Major inquiry to focus on cost of dementia care

The rising cost of caring for people with dementia is to be investigated by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Dementia, a group of MPs and peers.

At present, the financial cost of the condition is estimated to be 20 billion pounds a year, but experts predict that it will exceed 27 billion pounds by 2018.

Baroness Sally Greengross, chair of the APPG on Dementia, said that money must be spent wisely in the current economic climate.

"We want people to share ideas and practical examples so that the NHS, local authorities and others can deliver the best care at the right price," she explained.

Services around the country have already provided examples of ways to improve the cost-efficiency of dementia care.

For instance, hospitals in Leeds have been benefiting from a mental health liaison service, which has reduced the average length of stay for people with dementia by 54 percent.

Meanwhile, a report published in 2009 by the Alzheimer's Society suggested that at least 80 million pounds a year could be saved if people with dementia were able to leave hospital a week earlier.