King's Fund Response To Commission For Social Care Inspection Report On Dementia Care, UK

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 05 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Commenting on the Commission for Social Care Inspection's report See me, not just the dementia King's Fund Chief Executive Niall Dickson said:

'Over the next 20 years we are going to witness a dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from dementia. Unless there is a major breakthrough in drugs to arrest the course of this illness, there will be a great need for extra care and support, some of it quite intense.

'Specifically the increase in very old people in the next 20 years re-enforces the need for affordable and good quality social care as the very old - those over 85 - are more likely to have outlived friends and family and won't have that informal network of support to turn to for help.

'It's admittedly hard for the NHS and social services to plan that far into the future but with almost one million people suffering with dementia by 2026 it's important that we start making the changes now that will ensure the necessary services are in place to meet future demand.'

Notes

1. The King's Fund report Paying the Price: The cost of mental health care in England to 2026 found that: Due to an aging population incidences of dementia will increase by 61% between 2007 and 2026 from 582,827 to 937,636; Current mental health service costs are £22.5 billion. This includes direct NHS costs, social service costs, the estimated economic value of informal care and where appropriate costs to the criminal justice services; Service costs specifically for caring for people with dementia are projected to rise from £14.9 billion in 2007 to £34.8 billion by 2026.

2. The report's recommendations included the following: Future governments should ensure that funding for health and social care services keep is sufficient to meet expected future health need; Given the major cost impact of dementia a priority should be made of early detection and treatment of dementia by GPs and research into cost-effective treatments by pharmaceutical companies.

3. For further information or interviews please contact the King's Fund media and public relations office on 020 7307 2585, 020 7307 2632 or 020 7307 2581. An ISDN line is available for interviews on 020 7637 0185.

4. The King's Fund is an independent charitable foundation working for better health, especially in London. We carry out research, policy analysis and development activities, working on our own, in partnerships, and through funding. We are a major resource to people working in health and social care, offering leadership development programmes; seminars and workshops; publications; information and library services; and conference and meeting facilities.

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