UK dementia patients ‘dumped and left’ in hospitals

This figure represents a 35-per-cent rise over the last five years, and Alzheimer’s Society Chief Executive Jeremy Hughes has stressed that people with dementia are being ‘dumped’ in hospital and left there. “Many are only admitted because there's no social care support to keep them safe at home. They are commonly spending more than twice as long in hospital as needed, confused and scared,” he added.

According to the charity’s analysis, there were 379,004 emergency admissions for people with dementia in England in 2017-18 compared to 279,265 in 2012-13. And a separate report titled Fit for the future: how should the incoming government help the NHS?, which polled NHS Confederation members, revealed that 98 per cent of UK health leaders believe that the worsening social care crisis is having a knock-on damaging effect on the NHS and patient care.

Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, acknowledged the damning findings that the two reports uncovered. “The system is not working, and these figures reveal how it is letting down people with dementia and putting our hospitals under unnecessary and intolerable strain,” he said. “Unless something is done now it can only get worse. The government has promised reform but unless we find an answer soon, backed up by long-term funding, this tragedy will go on blighting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with dementia and their families.”

As a primary solution, Hughes noted that there needs to be more funding plugged into social care, and he added that training for those looking after vulnerable people, such as those with dementia, should also be a priority. In fact, the Alzheimer’s Society wants the government to invest an extra £8 billion a year in care for those with dementia.

“One very simple thing would fix the crisis we have in dementia care,” he added, “and that is for the government to commit to the proper level of funding for social care that enables people to live with the disease in their own homes, supported by the community around them, with trained people, to give them the care and support they need.” Hughes explained that because people with dementia aren’t being supported to stay in their own homes, they end up in hospital, which costs a lot of money – the Alzheimer’s Society says that dementia care costs the UK £34.7 billion a year, a figure which is expected to rise to £94.1 billion by 2040 – and ultimately, this is not a good place for them to be.

A spokesperson for the UK Government confirmed that councils have been given an extra £1.5 billion a year for children and adult social care. “[We] are determined to find a long-term solution so that every person is treated with dignity and offered the security they deserve," they said.