Call for evidence on dementia care

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Chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on dementia, Baroness Greengross outlines why the group is leading an inquiry into dementia care.

Dementia is an enormous challenge costing the economy billions of pounds every year. But even with the huge sums of money spent, we know a lot of it is wasted on poor quality care, and many people with dementia continue to be let down by the current system.

For this reason the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on dementia is leading an inquiry into saving money in dementia care and improving outcomes for people. We are calling on commissioners and providers of health and social care, people with dementia and carers, and leading organisations to submit evidence and contribute to this work. Best-practice examples will then be shared and hopefully used across the UK, enabling the NHS, local authorities and others to deliver the best care at the right price (further details on how to submit evidence to this inquiry are shown below).

As chair of the APPG on dementia, I see it as necessary to highlight how poor-quality care not only brings a huge physical and emotional burden to people with dementia and their families, it also costs our whole society.

The cost of dementia care to the UK is currently estimated at £20bn a year and is set to rise to £27bn by 2018. We must ensure this money is spent more effectively. If we do not, in the present financial climate, when we already see cuts to services in our communities, we will find ourselves in an unqualified crisis.

This is frustrating when there is evidence available to show that improving dementia services, often by providing support to people early, can create cost savings and deliver better outcomes for people with dementia. This is not new thinking, but the process of spreading good practice is slow. We urgently need people across health and social care to regard work in this area as a priority, and understand that providing good quality care for people with dementia can help deliver against wider goals for the system.

Some of the current evidence we have includes the Alzheimer's Society’s Counting the Cost report, published in November 2009, which found that at least £80m a year could be saved if people with dementia were enabled and properly supported to leave hospital one week earlier. Research also shows that if the government achieves its target to reduce the use of antipsychotic drugs by two thirds by November 2011, this would save £55m every year.

The aim of our inquiry is to gather more practical examples like these and make them accessible to the people who design and provide services. We want to hear about activities or support that enables people to live independently at home for longer and for carers to carry on caring at home. Providing the right support can reduce the chance of the person with dementia having to go into hospital unnecessarily or care homes early.

We are calling on all stakeholders in this area to share their ideas. Together in this way we will begin to tackle the challenge ahead, both by meeting the demands of the difficult financial climate and transforming the way care is delivered.

Further info

Alzheimer's Society provides the secretariat for the APPG on dementia and is managing the responses to this work. If you can help, please fill out an online form on the APPG webpage at www.alzheimers.org.uk/appg, or download the form and email it to appg@alzheimers.org.uk

Alternatively, to receive a form in the post or if you have any queries, call Nicola O'Brien on 020 7423 3585. Posted submissions must go to:

Nicola O'Brien
Public Affairs Officer
Alzheimer's Society
Central Office
Devon House
58 St Katharine's Way
London
E1W 1LB

Alzheimer's Society provides the secretariat for the APPG on dementia.

Please note that your feedback to the inquiry will be made public, but where you request confidentiality it will be labelled as anonymous.

The deadline for written evidence is 26 February.