It would take more than a century for a patient to
save enough to pay the typical cost of dementia care, a report warns.
They would need to save £800 a year for 125 years
to reach
The Alzheimer’s Society, which carried out the
study, warns the cost of social care is leaving families destitute and is
calling on the next government to create a ‘long-term, sustainable system’ to
fund it.
A poll of more than 2,300 adults aged 16 to 75 for
the charity also found that 47 per cent have not started saving for the care
they might need in the future.
Rob Burley, director of policy at the Alzheimer’s
Society, said: ‘People affected by dementia have had to empty their bank
accounts and sell their home to foot a tremendous bill for social care.
'This is simply not fair. Other diseases are
supported by the NHS, yet people with
dementia fall into a void and feel abandoned by the state.
‘A caller to our helpline told us how they had to
borrow money for food from friends and family because all their pension was
being drained on care home top-up fees.
‘Successive governments have shirked this issue. On
behalf of people with dementia, I challenge the next government to create a
long-term, sustainable system for funding dementia care.’
On average dementia patients live for five years.
The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that three years
of care at home costs about £39,000. Sufferers are then likely to need two
years in a care home, costing £62,000.
People would need to save £800 a year for 125 years
to reach the £100,000 experts say it now costs to live comfortably with
dementia for five years.
The charity also based its calculations on the
assumption that people could save £800 a year – the average sum they put aside
for their pension.
One family said they spent more than £500,000 over
ten years on dementia care after they were found to be ineligible for
state-funded help.
Judith Jordan, 48, from Ashtead in Surrey,
initially cared for her mother, Joan, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in her
early 60s. Aged 65, she moved into a care home and cashed in stocks, shares,
her husband’s life insurance and her pension to fund her care.
She could not move properly, suffered bedsores and
epilepsy, and could not speak for the last five years of her life.
But despite five assessments for state funding, she
was repeatedly ruled ineligible.
When she died in August 2016 aged 76, Joan weighed
just over 63lb and was paying £4,000 a month for her care.
Mrs Jordan said: ‘My mum ended up spending over
£500,000 on her dementia care.
‘She would be devastated to know her money was gone
and she could only leave her grandchildren a fraction of what she had hoped.’
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