THE cost of caring for Northumberland residents suffering from dementia is expected to soar by the end of the decade.
A report from Northumberland County Council put the figure at £389 million by 2030 – up from £216 million in 2020.
There are currently 5,399 people aged over 65 living with dementia in Northumberland, with that figure set to increase to almost 9,000 by 2040.
Officials at the local authority have been working on a county-wide dementia strategy to be followed by health and social care organisations in the county to work together to care for residents over the next decade.
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The strategy’s vision centres around reducing the risk of people developing dementia and to enable and support people living with dementia to live life
to their full potential.
Speaking at Thursday’s meeting (July 10) of the Northumberland Health and Wellbeing Board, Carole Paz, Senior Quality Improvement and Assurance Manager at the council, outlined the key points of the strategy.
She said: “This is something we need to be aware of and prepared for. It is something that impacts on all of us.
“We have really positive existing foundations. We want to continue to strengthen that.
“The final product is really robust and informed.
“A lot of the work we wanted to do fitted in with NHS England’s Transformation Framework Well Pathway for Dementia. This is about preventing well; diagnosing well; supporting well; living well; and most importantly dying well.
“We want to raise awareness of positive preventative action – risk factors include alcohol, smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol.”
The council officer also told of patients’ experiences during diagnosis and treatment. The strategy was informed by experiences of people living with dementia along with their carers.
She said: “It was a pleasure to be involved with the steering group. Everyone is involved and active, it’s really positive.
“When we talked to adults living with dementia, it turned out people didn’t know a lot about dementia before their diagnosis or didn’t know what to expect. Information was confusing and diagnosis can take quite a long time.
“We have people in Northumberland in their 40s and 50s with young-onset dementia who have young families – their journey is quite different to older people. Some people feel shame about a dementia diagnosis.
“Having that diagnosis shouldn’t stop people going on to live fulfilling lives for a number of years.”
