Dementia patients and their carers get a poor deal from the NHS, an MPs’ committee has concluded. Care for the condition has much in common with care for cancer in the 1950s, when there were few treatments for the disease and sufferers were often not even told they had it, the Public Accounts Committee said.

Carers save the taxpayer £5 billion a year, but do not get the support they need, the MPs said. Many feel “abandoned” after diagnosis, and fewer than half receive the assessment of needs to which they are entitled.

The committee called for dementia to be given the same priority as cancer and heart disease in the NHS and urged the Department of Health to appoint a dementia czar to drive through improvements in diagnosis, treatment and care.

Dementia affects 560,000 people in England – predicted to rise to a million by 2031 and 1.4 million by 2051. It was the cause of 3 per cent of all deaths in 2005 and may have contributed to 13 per cent.

But up to two thirds of patients never receive a formal diagnosis, in part because medical professionals feel that little can be done. Almost a quarter of GPs regard dementia patients as “a drain on resources with little positive outcome”, the MPs said.

Britain ranks in the bottom third of European healthcare systems for prescription of key antidementia drugs.

But the committee said there was “clear evidence” that early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes for both patients and carers. Diagnosis should be made in all cases, even where no treatment is available, because it allows sufferers to make plans for the future while they still can, the committee said.

Its report also raised concerns about standards of care on home visits and in care homes, with poorly trained and badly paid staff, many of whom do not speak English as their first language.

Almost two thirds of care home residents have dementia, but only 28 per cent of places are registered to provide specialist care, said the report.

Two out of ten homes do not meet medicine management standards and there is evidence of inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs, which can have serious side-effects and hasten the development of dementia. Complaints are also made that sufferers are not afforded “dignity and respect”.

The committee said that without the unpaid work of carers – often spouses or children of the sufferer – the present system of care for dementia patients would be “unsustainable”.

But many carers are left floundering after diagnosis. Caring imposes a heavy burden on their physical, emotional and mental health, and is often linked to depression, unemployment, lower earning capacity and lost pension entitlements.

After a critical National Audit Office report last summer, the Department of Health is now developing a national dementia strategy. Today’s report said that it should address areas of underperformance such as poor diagnosis and limited availability of drugs.

Ivan Lewis, a health minister, responded: “Last August, I acknowledged that too many people are let down by existing services and bringing dementia out of the shadows is now one of our top priorities.

“In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, we are developing a national plan to improve services which we will launch in the autumn following consultation with families and professionals.”

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