In 2024, the Alzheimer’s Society reported that one in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime. Its report shows that around a million people in the UK have a form of dementia. This is projected to rise to 1.4 million people by 2040. Alzheimer’s
disease and dementia are becoming a major burden on health and social care resources, as well as a financial and social cost to families who struggle to care for their loved ones. The report commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society in 2024 revealed that dementia costs in the UK equal £42 billion per year. This is set to rise sharply to £90 billion by 2040. Here, Annette Duck, retired interstitial lung disease specialist nurse, gives a personal account of how she and her family were let down by health and social care services with regards to their father’s care and discusses the evidence and guidelines to see what might have helped and supported them to care for their father.