Dementia ‘Costs Scotland £1.4bn A Year’

Dementia costs Scotland £1.4bn a year but not enough is being done to tackle the problem, according to a leading charity. Alzheimer Scotland said that 58,000 people in Scotland are currently diagnosed with dementia, but that number will almost double to 102,000 by 2031.

A new report, Dementia UK, has raised concerns about the social and economic impact of dementia and warns that urgent action is needed to plan for the rapid increase in the number of sufferers. The study, by the London School of Economics, showed the average cost per person with dementia was £25,472 a year.

Most of the money goes towards accommodation and care for sufferers, but social service spending and NHS spending was also included. The annual cost of the illness amounted to more than £17bn in the UK, which included £1.4bn in Scotland alone.

Jim Jackson, chief executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said that dementia should be made a national priority for health and social care policy. He said: “There is no time to lose. We must look at what resources are needed now and in the future. Crucially, we must make sure resources are spent most effectively. Dementia care must be prioritised in the forthcoming spending review.”

Dementia is one of the main causes of disability in later life ahead of some forms of cancer, heart disease and stroke, yet much less is spent on research and provision of care for sufferers. The disease affects one in five people over 80 and one in 20 people over 65.

Almost two-thirds of people with dementia live in their own home and one-third live in a care home. But the researchers warned that the provision of health care services for people with dementia varied widely according to where patients live.

Professor Sube Banerjee, a member of the research team, said: “Service provision varies tremendously. There is no logical reason for the variation but it does mean for many people access to care is more an accident of geography than about need.”

The report also warned that not enough research was being carried out.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: “We recently published Delivering for Mental Health, which sets out our ambition and focus for change and improvement for all mental health services.”