17/09/2014
The Alzheimer's Society claim in a new report that people suffering from dementia and their families are spending about £21,000 annually in care expenses.
While people with dementia have been paying the government taxes all their lives in order to contribute to the NHS, the charity says they nevertheless pay for their own care when they become ill. Alzheimer’s Society considers such uncovered expenses as burdensome “taxes.”
The Alzheimer’s Society commissioned the London School of Economics to conduct its research. The London-based research university found that sufferers of dementia spend £7,085 for their own carers plus about £14,237 for care expenses given by their own families that are not paid by the government.
The charity has condemned the burdensome expense as unfair treatment of dementia sufferers as patients with other conditions, such as, heart disease or cancer, are being treated by the NHS.
The report said the so-called dementia tax is a consequence of the insufficient budget provided by the NHS to local authorities, forcing councils to ration care tightly.
The government has been slashing care funds for the past four years and have recently enacted the Care Act of 2014. The legislation was passed in order to aid the government in its effort to reduce deficit. However, charities like Age UK has warned the public before that enacting the law would hurt social care services, especially for the elderly who make up the bulk of dementia patients.
In its report, the Alzheimer’s Society called on the government to end the unfair treatment of dementia sufferers.
Alzheimer’s Society CEO Jeremy Hughes said, “It is plain to see that our social care system is on its knees, leaving an army of tens of thousands of unpaid carers bearing the brunt. If you have cancer or heart disease you can quite rightly expect that the care you need will be free. That is just not the case for people with dementia. Families are forced to break the bank to pay for basic care for a loved one.”
