Cost of dementia care in Northumberland to soar by the end of the decade

A report from Northumberland County Council put the figure at £389million by 2030 – up from £216million 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 so they can work together to care for residents over the next decade.

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 a meeting 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.”