Notes to editors
The King’s Fund report Paying the Price: The cost of mental health care in England to 2026 found that: Due to an aging population incidences of dementia will increase by 61% between 2007 and 2026 from 582,827 to 937,636; Current mental health service costs are £22.5 billion. This includes direct NHS costs, social service costs, the estimated economic value of informal care and where appropriate costs to the criminal justice services; Service costs specifically for caring for people with dementia are projected to rise from £14.9 billion in 2007 to £34.8 billion by 2026.
The report’s recommendations included the following: Future governments should ensure that funding for health and social care services keep is sufficient to meet expected future health need; Given the major cost impact of dementia a priority should be made of early detection and treatment of dementia by GPs and research into cost-effective treatments by pharmaceutical companies.
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