Dementia care bill would take 125 years to save, charity finds

An Alzheimer’s Society investigation has calculated that the typical person’s bill for dementia social care would take 125 years to save for.

The charity outlined that since dementia cannot be cured or effectively treated, many people are forced to pay for costly social care, rather than free NHS treatments.

Ahead of Dementia Awareness Week, Alzheimers Society has published the findings from its largest consultation with people affected by dementia, Turning Up the Volume: Unheard Voices of People with Dementia conducted with Ipsos MORI.

The report revealed nearly half (47 per cent) of the UK adults aged between 16-75 years old questioned have not started saving for the care and support they might need in the future, and a third (37 per cent) agreed that before being asked, they had not considered the cost of dementia care and support.

54 per cent of those surveyed agreed the government should pay for their care and support if they developed dementia, while just five per cent disagreed.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society said: “Dementia is a disease, as cancer is a disease, as heart disease is a disease. Getting dementia shouldn’t mean families are left bankrupt or destitute with nothing to leave behind.”

“The social care crisis is a dementia crisis. Many people with dementia and their families are buckling under the inordinate pressure of propping up a failing social care system that has been starved of funding for decades. Too many people are forced to give up everything they own in order to care day in and day out for their mother, father, husband or wife.”

“Repeatedly governments have failed to put a long term plan in place. On behalf of people with dementia, I challenge the next government to create a long term, sustainable system for funding dementia care. Currently, many people with dementia feel deserted by the state, and must rely on family members and carers for the support they need.”