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DEMENTIA sufferers are being left outside the public healthcare system and made to pay a “dementia tax,” new figures revealed today.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, families of those living with the condition can expect to fork out around £21,000 a year in care.
“If you have another disease, like cancer or heart disease, you actually get all your treatment on the NHS,” said Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes.
“If you have dementia, most of the support you need comes from social care and most of that comes from the individual family and the family carers or from a severely strapped social care system.”
National costs of dementia have reached £26 billion a year with two-thirds covered by sufferers and their families — £17.4bn.
“While government has woken up to the challenge dementia presents, we need radical solutions and serious funding commitments to put social care on a sustainable footing,” concluded Mr Hughes.
