Responding to the National Audit Office report Improving Dementia Services In England – An Interim Report, Jo Webber, deputy policy director at the NHS Confederation, which represents over 95 per cent of NHS organisations, said:

"The number of people with dementia will grow significantly as our population gets older and the only way to respond to this challenge is to co-ordinate action across public services.

“While dementia care is one of several competing priorities that primary care trusts will have to make decisions on locally, we know the pressure of population leaves us with no choice but to resolve these issues.

“The challenge that we must meet is trying to find new and improved ways of providing services that include all local bodies while at the same time finding efficiency savings.

“How funding is arranged is also vital and this report is a reminder of how important it will be to produce a clear, long term solution to social care funding in the forthcoming Department of Health White Paper.”