Cost of dementia care will nearly treble over next two decades

The cost of dementia care is set to nearly treble in the next 20 years, according to a new report.

The study by the London School of Economics and Political Science shows that the number of people with dementia in the UK is predicted to nearly double to 1.6m people by 2040 and the cost of care is expected to triple to £45.4bn. The current cost of dementia care, which includes NHS costs, social care costs as well as unpaid care, is £15.7bn.

The report also predicts that with an ageing population, a larger amount of people with dementia will have higher care needs for longer.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Society, which commissioned the study, said: “Dementia is heart-breaking for families. It’s not right that those going through it have to battle to get the care they need on top of battling the disease.

“From the working mum struggling to find hundreds of pounds every week to ‘top up’ her mum’s council-funded care home place, to the woman who had to sell her home of 50 years to pay for her husband’s care – families affected by dementia are already at breaking point. With costs set to treble in the next two decades, how on earth will they cope?

“The cost of dementia care is too much for an individual to bear. It should be spread between us – just like schools, the NHS and other public services.”

The report revealed that £9bn a year (57 per cent) in social care costs fall on people with dementia and their families. Previous research by Alzheimer’s Society has shown that someone with dementia will typically have to spend £100,000 on their care, with many forced to sell their homes to pay for it.

In addition, it showed families are providing £13.9 bn a year in unpaid care for people with dementia, which will increase to £35.7 bn by 2040.

With the General Election looming, Alzheimer’s Society is calling on all political parties to commit to radically reform dementia care and to fund dementia care like public services, such as the NHS and education.

Philip Scott’s mum Sylvia, 90, is in the late stages of dementia, and her house was sold to help pay for her care.

Philip, 59, a tour guide from London, said: “Mum wouldn’t survive more than 48 hours without nursing care. Why has she had to spend £160,000 to make sure that doesn’t happen?

“The whole process of having to argue again and again why my mum needed support was really harrowing. It took three attempts before we managed to get Continuing Health Care funding for her, and even now we are afraid that the funding will be taken away.”

Alzheimer’s Society is calling on people to back their Fix Dementia Care campaign by signing up at www.alzheimers.org.uk/fixcampaign.

Around 850,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia.

The research report by the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at LSE is available here