£238m bill for dementia care looming
The cost of caring for people with dementia in Sunderland is set to become a multi-million challenge in the next 10 years, say health campaigners.
The Alzheimer’s Society estimate care costs will rise from their current level of £146million to £238m in 2030 – an increase of 63.2%.
The UK’s leading dementia charity is calling for immediate social care investment to be a key pillar of the Government’s Spring Budget next month.
The figures – calculated by the London School of Economics and Political Science – are a combination of costs to the NHS, social care and the value of unpaid care provided by family members.
Nationally it is estimated that about 60% of social care costs are typically met by people living with dementia and their families.
In Sunderland, these costs are set to rise from £62.4m to £106.1m by 2030 – 69.9%
The Alzheimer’s Society is demanding urgent investment in all adult social care in England over the next year – £2.65bn of that to be spent on care for people living with dementia to improve the financial and emotional impact they and their families face.
Judith King, head of region for The Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The social care system is unfair and unfit for people living with dementia. It is an injustice.
“We are calling on the Government to commit £8bn in immediate funding to bring care to an acceptable level and establish a clear timetable to provides a fairer system and ensure access to quality care.
“For far too long, families have been privately struggling to care for their loved ones with dementia, having to pick up the pieces of a social care system that's coming apart at the seams.
“This can't go on. 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 1.2 million by 2030.
Previous research has shown that someone with dementia will typically have to spend £100,000 on care with many being forced to sell their homes to pay for it.