Dementia care crisis ‘costing businesses £3.2bn a year’

A crisis in dementia care has cost businesses in England £3.2bn in the last year, according to a charity.

Research by the Alzheimer’s Society looked into people who have had to quit jobs, reduce hours, or change working patterns to care for their loved ones.

The charity said the figure was likely to double over the next 20 years to £6.3bn and are now calling on the government to deliver on their promise to end the dementia care crisis.

“Up and down the country, families are desperately trying and often failing to get the good quality dementia care their loved ones need,” said Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes.

“Instead, over 100,000 people have had no choice but to leave their jobs and try to care for their loved ones themselves.

“The knock-on cost to businesses is only going to get bigger, with more and more people set to develop dementia and no solution put in place to sort out social care.

“It’s devastating for people with dementia, devastating for their families and carers, a drain on the NHS and now we see how badly it’s affecting our economy.”

He called for an overhaul of social care to ensure a minimum standard of care for patients.

In Birmingham, the charity Dementia Carers Count helps people to cope as carers.

Seven out of 11 people attending a course run by the charity told Sky News their working lives had been ended or disrupted after they had to step in to look after family members.

Gainna Lee, from Surrey, gave up work after her mother was diagnosed.

“As she has declined in her dementia, that level of need has gone up so that now she needs 24-hour care and supervision and hands-on support,” she said.

“And therefore I had to give up quite a well-paid job. There’s been a significant impact on our income and as such our standard of living.”

She added that her husband had also given up his job as a maths teacher to help her.

Julie Firmager-Lee, from Leicestershire, had planned to increase her hours at work after having her second child – then she found out her mother had dementia.

“After a year of me settling back in to work, the little one settling in to nursery, [I thought] I’d go back full time, but since then we’ve had mum’s diagnosis and that’s not really on the cards anymore.”

“Carers are at crisis point,” said Dr Gemima Fitzgerald, a clinical psychologist who helps to run the course.

“The pressure that they’re under, the pressure to juggle work, juggle their finances, to juggle the care, to juggle their own families…

“It’s just too much and what I see in carers is people who are desperate and who are really struggling and have really been forgotten.”

In a statement, a government spokesperson said: “Carers make an invaluable contribution to society and this must not come at the expense of their careers.

“We are working with employers to promote carer-friendly, flexible jobs and ensure better access to advice and support, and will consult on dedicated employment rights for carers.

“We have given local authorities an additional £1.5bn for adult and children’s social care next year on top of their existing grants to continue to stabilise the sector.

“The government will set out plans to fix the social care system in due course.”

Source : Sky News : http://news.sky.com/story/dementia-care-crisis-costing-businesses-16332bn-as-carers-forced-to-quit-jobs-11821161