Prescriptions for Alzheimer’s are six times higher than ten years ago, rising from 502,000 in 2004 to over 3 million in 2014, a report by HSCIC has found.
The report, called Focus on Dementia, also assessed the cost of Alzheimer’s drugs over the past decade, with NHS spend rising from £42.8m in 2004 to £110.8m in 2011, before a patent expiry allowed cheaper variations to fill the market and prices fell to £45.7m in 2014.
Diagnoses of dementia have also increased, with 423,000 diagnoses being made at the end of 2015, a slight raise on figures that were reported in Pulse last year after a concerted effort by the Government to incentivise GPs in diagnosing more people with dementia.
The report data was compiled from a range of sources – including GPs – across England to bring together for the first time a compilation of new and existing statistics as well as the identification of key risk areas that can be used to help prevent dementia.
Jonathan Hope, lead statistician for the report, said: ‘Our ageing population means that the way we diagnose, treat and care for people with dementia will be increasingly important to many of us.
‘I hope that bringing statistics together from different aspects of health and care services can give us a more rounded picture of the treatment and experiences of those with dementia and their carers.’
