People living with dementia spending billions on own care, report finds

People living with dementia have spent almost £15bn on their own care since the government first promised its Green Paper in March 2017.

Alzheimer’s Society revealed that people living have spent more on their care (£14.5bn) than the government since March 2017 (£9.3bn).

Jeremy Hughes, CEO of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This shocking sum of money spent by people with dementia over the last two years trying to get access to the care and support they desperately need is utterly unacceptable.

“And the amount and quality of care they’re getting for it – those who can afford it – just isn’t good enough. The results are people with dementia and their families falling victim to this dreadfully broken system.”

The number of people diagnosed with dementia increased by 33,000 in England during the two-year period. Furthermore, people living with dementia spent 1 million unnecessary days stuck in hospital during the same period, costing the NHS £340m.

The charity said people living with dementia paid an average 15% above standard social care costs, typically spending £100,000 on their care.

Alzheimer’s Society has called for £2.4bn of the unallocated £3.5bn in funding for community care attached to the NHS Long-Term Plan to be used for a Dementia Fund to help people with meeting their care costs.

Jeremy added: “We need an immediate cash injection through a dedicated Dementia Fund, while the government works out a long term solution to finally end this crisis in care. With diagnosis rates of dementia at an all-time high, action can’t come soon enough.”