Call for action as care costs for dementia set to rise - The Worcester Observer

Call for action as care costs for dementia set to rise

Worcester Editorial 25th Feb, 2020   0

CARE costs for Worcester families affected by dementia could soar by two thirds in the next decade, according to the UK’s leading dementia care charity.

The latest figures for the West Midlands estimate care costs will rise from their current level of £3,376,000 to £5,297,000 in 2030, an increase of 66 per cent.

While the figures are a prediction, the Alzheimer’s Society has called for immediate social care investment to be a key pillar of the Government’s budget on March 11.

The figures, calculated by the London School of Economics and Political Science, combine costs to the NHS, social care and the value of unpaid care provided by family members.




Worryingly, across England it is estimated about 60 per cent of social care costs are typically met by people living with dementia and their families because they do not qualify for state support.

As part of its on-going Fix Dementia Care campaign, Alzheimer’s Society is demanding urgent investment, backing calls for £8billion in extra funding for adult social care in England by 2020/21.


The charity estimates at least £2.65billion could be spent on care for people living with dementia to improve the devastating financial and emotional impact they and their families face when accessing care.

Kumbi Mandinyenya, Alzheimer’s Society’s area manager for the Midlands said: “The social care system is unfair and unfit for people living with dementia. Alzheimer’s Society is campaigning to end this injustice.

“We are calling on the Government to commit to £8billion in immediate funding to bring care to an acceptable level, as well as a clear timetable for long-term reform which provides a fairer system and ensures access to quality care.

“For far too long, families have been privately struggling to care for their loved ones with dementia, left to pick up the pieces of a social care system which is coming apart at the seams. This can’t go on any longer. The Government must live up to its promise to fix dementia care.”

The number of people living with dementia across the UK is expected to rise from around 850,000 to 1.2million by 2030 and the report predicts as our population ages, a higher proportion of people with dementia will have higher care needs for longer, driving up the average amount spent on care.

Previous research by Alzheimer’s Society has shown that someone with dementia will typically have to spend £100,000 on their care. Many are forced to sell their homes to pay for it.

Visit www.alzheimers.org.uk/FixBudget for more.

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