MORE than 110,000 people have been forced to quit work to care for a relative with dementia – with the disease costing firms £3.2billion this year.
Charities say a crisis in dementia care means desperate families have had “no choice” but to leave their jobs to look after loved ones themselves.
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The lost experience and fall in productivity as result of 112,540 people leaving the workforce will cost businesses in England £2.6billion in 2019.
A further 147,000 people have had to cut back their hours or seen work suffer as a result of their caring responsibilities, at a cost of £654.9million.
They typically spend seven hours a week helping someone to cook, wash, dress and take pills, the Centre for Economics and Business Research found.
But it means they can be left tired, stressed and ill, with their output at work suffering as a result.
Alzheimer’s Society, which commissioned the study, said budget cuts mean it is impossible for many dementia patients to get state care.
The charity is calling on the Government to put forward proposals in the Queen’s Speech that results in long-term social care reform.
It says high quality dementia care should be available to everyone with the condition.
END ‘DEMENTIA TAX’
And it wants an end to the “dementia tax”, which sees people with the disease charged an average 15 per cent more than standard care.
Jeremy Hughes, from Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Up and down the country families are desperately trying and often failing to get the good quality dementia care their loved ones need.
“Instead, over a hundred thousand 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.
“This can’t go on.
“The Government must overhaul social care to ensure a minimum standard of care and security for everyone with dementia.
THE COST TO BUSINESS WILL SOAR
“It should work like the NHS, schools and other public services, where everyone gets quality care based on their need, not their wallet.”
There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and 355,000 people of working age caring for a loved one with dementia in England.
The cost to businesses has increased by £1.6billion in the past four years and is expected to soar to £6.3billion a year by 2040.
Boris Johnson promised to improve care for dementia patients when he met Barbara Windsor at Downing Street earlier this month.
The Prime Minister told the EastEnders legend and Alzheimer’s victim, 82, he would do his best to help people living with the disease.
The Government 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 £1.5billion 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.”
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