King's Fund: Policy-makers must act

Policy-makers need to plan for a predicted increase in the number of people with dementia, according to the chief executive of the King's Fund.

Niall Dickson said a report from the group found that "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".

However he added: "The report is reassuring in the sense that there is no evidence that, as a society, we are becoming more anxious or depressed or that many more of us are suffering from serious conditions such as schizophrenia and severe personality disorders."