Dementia Support Line
Alzheimer's Society responds to the government Spending Review
Today, Wednesday 11th June 2025, the Government delivered their Spending Review, providing insight into the UK Government's plans for spending and investment until 2029-30.
With the cost of dementia expected to rise to £90 billion by 2040, and the number of people living with the condition predicted to rise to 1.4 million in the same time frame, Alzheimer’s Society are keen to further understand how these spending plans impact the future of dementia research, diagnosis, and care.
Professor Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
“Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer and will be the defining health and social care challenge of the coming decades. It is critical we make sure our health and social care services are set up to meet the needs of the almost one million people living with dementia in the UK."
What's in the budget for dementia?
The uplift to the NHS’s budget over the coming years is positive. It’s essential that some of that funding is used to prioritise dementia diagnosis, with new ambitious diagnosis rate targets set for the future.
More than a third of people living with dementia in the UK don’t have a diagnosis, putting them at greater risk of crisis without access to care, support and treatment.
Read more about our work on improving diagnosis.
Supporting social care
We also want to see action on our calls for mandatory dementia training for all adult social care workers, which currently only 29% of them have received. Specialist dementia training equips care workers with the skills and knowledge they need to provide good care.
The Chancellor spoke about a difficult fiscal environment in her speech, and evidence shows that investing in quality, evidenced based training brings savings for the taxpayer through reduced GP appointments and emergency hospital admissions.
Put simply, getting dementia care right and going further and faster on diagnosis is good for people living with dementia, good for their carers and good for the economy.
It could also be a huge driver to achieving the UK Government’s three key shifts in healthcare and reducing waiting times.
Read our position on improving dementia training among care workforce.
Funding for research
It’s also good to see the Chancellor commit more funding to research – which will ultimately find a cure for dementia. Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading care and research charity for people with dementia. Research will beat dementia.
We believe in research as a means of delivering breakthrough discoveries in how we understand the causes of dementia, develop effective treatments, improve care and ultimately find a cure.
What we think
Learn about our policy work and what we stand for on a wide range of issues related to dementia. We share the changes we want to see and what we're doing to make a difference.