March 2018
Analysis of how future dementia treatments will impact our health system and the taskforce we’re launching to overcome the unique challenges these treatments present.
What the modelling shows:
A new treatment will have a large impact on the health system because of the sheer number of people living with dementia. Between 310,000 and 750,000 people would be eligible for treatment, depending on the number of people who would benefit from each hypothetical treatment approach.
The cost of these treatments, and the long duration over which they would need to be taken, is also likely to pose significant practical and financial challenges to the NHS. For example, even at a price point that would be considered cost-effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the annual overall cost to the NHS of one hypothetical treatments is £420m – a third of the total cost of all cardiovascular medicines.
What it means:
We have a window of opportunity now to develop an action plan to ensure the health system is able to pay for, and deliver, future treatments. We have a duty to act now to ensure that treatments reach the people who need them without unnecessary delay.
What are we recommending:
- There needs to be a system in place to understand Alzheimer’s treatments in development and their likely impact on the health sector.
- The scale of the resources required in the NHS to deliver future treatments needs to be considered now.
- Innovative funding models should be developed to respond to the challenge of delivering future Alzheimer’s treatments.
Thinking Differently: preparing today to implement future dementia treatments
Executive Summary
A snapshot of the treatments we analysed, the challenges we outlined and recommended actions included in the full report.
