The Government must act now on social care reform

The shocking reality behind the Government’s failure to deliver on social care reform has been uncovered this week by Alzheimer’s Society.

In the two years since reforms were first promised, people living with dementia, including around 5,000 in Northumberland, have had to spend almost £15bn of their own money on social care.

We believe this is a disgrace. It is a situation our Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Hughes, has described as “utterly unacceptable”.

The Government first promised a Green Paper on social care reform back in March 2017… but since then that promise has been broken time and again.

In fact, there have now been six delays to its release. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of people unfortunate enough to develop dementia are being financially punished.

Had they been diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or countless other conditions, the cost of their care would be covered by the NHS, but because they have a disease of the brain, they must foot the bill themselves.

Typically, people with dementia spend £100,000 on their care, often being forced to sell their home in the process.

That is why, this week, we are asking MPs in [REGION] to get behind our calls for an end to this injustice, by backing the creation of a dedicated Dementia Fund.

The money is there in the so far unallocated £3.5bn funding pot for community care attached to the NHS Long-Term Plan.

Alzheimer’s Society believes £2.4bn of this money should be used to create a Dementia Fund.

It would be used to cover the additional social care costs people with dementia are asked to pay because of the complexity of their health condition.

The Government must act…and it must act soon.

• Ken Oxley is Media Officer for the Alzheimer’s Society in the North East and Cumbria.