Dementia care – the cost to patients

Recent research undertaken by the London School of Economics and Kings College London  on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Society has found that most individuals with dementia in the UK are faced with a “care tax” as they have to sort out care for themeselves.

The Alzheimer’s Society found that on average, the equivalent of £32,242 a year was spent on care per patient with less than 30% of this amount being funded by councils or the NHS. The charity criticised this unfair “care tax” as those with cancer or heart problems got their care free on the NHS.

The care of those with dementia is becoming a growing issue as whilst over the last 7 years there had been no change in the proportion of older people getting the disease, numbers would still rise from 850,000 now to more than two million by 2051 because of the ageing population.

However the report also stated that there was a rise in younger adults with the disease – up from 17,000 to more than 40,000.

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