The total cost of dementia care in Harrow is set to almost double over the next decade, putting those affected by the condition under increasing pressure.

The latest figures for Harrow estimate care costs will rise from their current level of £127 million to £218 million in 2030, an increase of 72 per cent.

With this shocking prediction, we are calling for immediate social care investment to be a key pillar of the Government’s forthcoming Spring Budget on March 11.

The figures combine costs to the NHS, social care and the value of unpaid care provided by family members.

Worryingly, across England it is estimated that around 60 per cent of social care costs are typically met by people living with dementia and their families because they do not qualify for state support.

From the working mum struggling to find hundreds of pounds every week to ‘top up’ her mum’s council-funded care home place, to the woman who had to sell her home of 50 years to pay for her husband’s care – families affected by dementia are already at breaking point.

The social care system is unfair and unfit for people living with dementia. Alzheimer’s Society is campaigning to end this injustice. We are calling on the Government to commit to £8 billion in immediate funding to bring care to an acceptable level, as well as a clear timetable for long-term reform that provides a fairer system and ensures access to quality care.

Dementia is heart-breaking. It’s not right that, on top of battling the disease, those with dementia have to battle to get the care they need. For far too long, families have been privately struggling to care for their loved ones with dementia, left to pick up the pieces of a social care system that's coming apart at the seams. This can't go on any longer. The Government must live up to its promise to fix dementia care.

Across England, care costs are predicted to rise from their current level of £29.4 billion to £50.4 billion by 2030, an increase of more than 70 per cent.

Previous research we have undertaken has shown that someone with dementia will typically have to spend £100,000 on their care. Many are forced to sell their homes to pay for it.

We don’t think this is right. We are calling for dementia care to be funded like other public services, such as the NHS and education, where the cost is shared across society, protecting individuals and their families from the devastating costs of specialist dementia care.

Today, the charity releases a hard-hitting animated film telling the story of one family’s financial plight to get the care their loved one with dementia needs. You can view it by visiting www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n7dh3rHlB0&feature=youtu.be.

To find out more about Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care campaign, and to write to your MP asking them to take action, visit alzheimers.org.uk/FixBudget

  • Tom Redfearn is public affairs & campaigns manager at the Alzheimer’s Society