Alzheimer's Society condemns daylight robbery and drugging of older people

The charity accused the government of 'daylight robbery' and warned of a 'Granny Crunch' unless swift action is taken to change the system.

Speaking today (2 June 2009) at the Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Chief Executive, Neil Hunt will call on the government to publish its review of the use of antipsychotic drugs and its green paper on adult funding of social care.

Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of Alzheimer's Society, says

'It's an outrage that promises remain unfulfilled while people are being prescribed harmful antipsychotic drugs and families are being bankrupted by a derelict charging system. We are headed for a Granny Crunch unless the government acts now.  

'The average employed person works 1701 hours a year towards a healthy happy retirement.  But for hundreds of thousands of older people who develop dementia the reality is starkly different. People become victims of daylight robbery as they are forced to pay huge amounts for often poor quality care. Care homes cost five times the state pension and quality varies greatly. 

Over 105,000 people are inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic drugs, costing over £60 million a year.  These drugs double the risk of death, triple risk of stroke and accelerate cognitive decline.'

Alzheimer's Society is calling for swift action to implement fairer charging systems and a plan to reduce the use of antipsychotics.  In just 17 years over a million people in the UK will have dementia.

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