Dementia services

Dementia care is lacking because the government has failed to give it the same priority as cancer and coronary heart disease, MPs have warned.

Dementia, the term used for a range of progressive, terminal organic brain diseases, affects over 560,000 people in England and costs society about £14 billion a year.

There are other 100 types of the disease, the most common of which include Alzheimer's and vascular dementia.

Despite its prevalence, the public accounts committee (PAC) says the Department of Health (DoH) has not given dementia the same focus for improvement as cancer.

It claims that large numbers of people are being failed by their GPs and carers are poorly supported.

Many sufferers are not being diagnosed early enough, the PAC says, and when they are diagnosed they often fail to receive the specialist care they need.

Support is also lacking for the carers who look after them, usually family members who bear the "heavy burden".

To improve care the PAC says dementia should be given a single leader within the DoH with the power to make improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

PAC chairman Edward Leigh said dementia is "one of the last great taboo subjects" that is "neglected by health and social care services".

"We neglect dementia at our peril, however, given that the number of cases is predicted to soar by over 30 per cent over the next 15 years, as the average age of the population increases," he added.

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