State ‘must pay rocketing bills of dementia patients’

ROCKETING care costs for dementia patients should be met by the Government, say campaigners.

They say it is time to end the “fundamental injustice” of sufferers facing bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Cancer victims receive free care because it is recognised in some cases as a terminal illness.

But despite being incurable, dementia is seen as a social care need and families are often forced to sell their homes and use their life savings to cover sky-high costs.

Alzheimer’s Society is urging ministers at the Conservative Party conference to set up an NHS Dementia Fund to protect people from “catastrophic care costs”.

Sufferers of the brain-wasting condition typically spend £100,000 on their care, but the charity says some have paid up to £500,000.

The society’s chief executive, Jeremy Hughes, said: “People with dementia are at the mercy of a broken system, paying up to 40 per cent more for their care. The financial and emotional toll this takes on some of the most vulnerable people in society is fundamentally unfair.”

The charity blamed “cuts made left, right and centre by successive governments” for a social care system in crisis and families facing financial ruin.

Mr Hughes added: “Quality dementia care requires time and training and can’t be done on the cheap. These additional costs should be covered by the state, instead of forcing families to sell their homes and spend life savings just to get the care they need.”

The charity says some care costs should be paid for by sufferers or their families.

Killer

But extra charges should be monitored and covered by the state from a special fund.

There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, 500,000 of whom have Alzheimer’s.

The call to overhaul the current system comes days after the Daily Express revealed that despite dementia being the UK’s biggest killer, just £83.1million is committed each year to finding a cure.

Cancer scientists receive £269million from the Government and publicfunded research bodies, according to the latest figures.

The Department of Health and Social Care is expected to publish a paper later this year containing proposals on limits to the costs individuals face.

It says it does realise that the way the current charging system operates is far from fair.

A spokesman said: “We are committed to making this the best country in the world for dementia care, support, research and awareness. Our green paper, due later in the year, will set out our plans to reform the social care system to make it sustainable for the future.”

COSTS ARE EATING UP COUPLE’S LIFE SAVINGS