Can we afford not to have integrated dementia services?

摘要

Nearly one million UK residents have dementia, making it the most expensive condition health and social service providers face-?7 billion per annum is the recent Dementia UK estimate , Alzheimer's disease is the third commonest cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer (both having dedicated national service frameworks, performance targets and major investment). A third of stroke patients develop dementia after 3 months. These figures represent 2007 and even if the demographics and proportions of people with dementia simply remain the same, these costs will continue to rise, especially if the current lack of co-ordination continues.