Spending watchdog attacks lack of urgency on dementia patient care

A lack of basic training and "patchy" joined-up working meant many older people faced unnecessary hospital stays or were put into care homes too early, the National Audit Office found.

And it cast doubt on where funding would be found to implement the five-year plan, warning that there was a "strong risk" it would not show any better value for money in future.

The NAO said the strategy, published in February 2009 in response to its earlier criticisms and those from the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), was "ambitious and comprehensive".

But it accused the Department of Health of failing to match that ambition with action, sparking an angry response from the chairman of the PAC, Tory MP Edward Leigh.

"What is the point of a plan without the necessary tools to make change happen?" he asked.

"The department must demonstrate that this strategy is not just fine words and give the NHS and local authorities the tools they need to transform dementia services as a matter of urgency."

The number of people with dementia in England is expected to double within 30 years to 1.2 million, with the costs of care rising from 15.9bn in 2009 to 34.8bn by 2026.

More than half of the present annual bill, 8.2bn, is direct NHS and social care costs.

In a highly-critical report on the problems faced by dementia sufferers, the NAO concluded: "Improving services and support for people with dementia lacks the urgency and priority that the (PAC) had been led to expect, and there is a strong risk that value for money will not be significantly improved within the strategy's five-year implementation timetable."

The strategy had been "welcomed as an overdue recognition of the size and scale of the challenge" and enjoyed strong leadership at a national level, it said.

"However, the department has not yet matched this commitment with a robust approach to implementation, which aligns leadership, funding, incentives and information."

The failure to include it among the set of "national priorities" health bodies' performance was judged against meant it was not regarded as a "must do" area.

According to the NAO's analysis there was "no required basic training in how to understand and support" dementia patients despite almost all health professionals having contact with them.