NHS NEEDS TO ACCESS BREAKTHROUGH ALZHEIMER’S DRUGS
Drugs that halt Alzheimer’s should be rolled out more widely, Baroness Casey has said.
In her first speech since she was appointed to lead an independent commission of social care, Lady Casey called for dementia care to be prioritised more.
The crossbench peer said the system was so poor in some parts, it was as though “we’ve lost our minds”, adding that “a moment of reckoning” was required.
The Government has asked her to make recommendations about how to overhaul social care after 22 reviews failed to achieve change.
She has written to Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, urging him to make immediate changes, including a faster rollout of dementia treatment.
Speaking on Thursday at the Nuffield Trust summit near Windsor, she questioned decisions not to fund breakthrough drugs for Alzheimer’s, saying she would want to benefit from drugs that could give people extra time before the disease took hold.
Last year, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) rejected the NHS rollout of the first two drugs – lecanemab and donanemab – that were found to halt the progression of disease.
Lady Casey said she would want access to such drugs if she had Alzheimer’s disease and called for more investment in the trials of new pharmaceuticals.
“People with dementia are seen as bed-blocking, rather than patients with neurological health conditions. New breakthrough drugs are seen as too expensive to deliver on the NHS for what they call the small benefits that they’ll give.
“I know the NHS can’t afford every drug, but if I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and told treatment would give me an extra six months to talk to my family and get my affairs in order before that disease took hold, I’m not sure I’d call that a small benefit,” she said.
“I would take those six months any day,” she added.
She also said that major breakthroughs in treatment were “seen as way off and that there is no point in preparing the NHS to deliver them”.
Lady Casey criticised an apparent lack of energy, drive and determination when it comes to dementia, in contrast to the approach to tackling cancer.
She said: “Is it because it’s the elderly? Is it just too much of a taboo subject for us to front it out? Is it because that me, when I hit 67, I’m supposedly no longer economically active and therefore my voice doesn’t count? I think it’s for those reasons.”
In her letter to Mr Streeting, she asked him to “send a clear signal that dementia, and specifically Alzheimer’s Disease, is a priority”.
“It is my view that we should be flooding the system with clinical trials,” she said as she urged the Government to start with small pilots, and appoint a new full-time dementia tsar responsible to drive prevention, treatment and care of those with the disease.
Speaking more widely about social care, Lady Casey said too many people were being charged “for something that is utter s---e” with 15-minute care visits for the vulnerable.
She highlighted squabbles between the NHS and councils, referring to disputes lasting two-and-a-half weeks about who would pay for incontinence pads.
Lecanemab was licenced in the UK in 2024 after trials found it was the first drug to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Soon after, Donanemab was found to be more effective, slowing progression by 35 per cent, with scientists claiming patients could live at home with a better quality of life for an extra two years.
Nice said the benefits were not enough to justify the costs, with charities criticising the fact this did not take account of the costs taken on by families.
Hilary Evans-Newton, the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Dementia is the UK’s leading cause of death – so why isn’t it a national priority? Every year we delay prioritising dementia costs lives and costs the UK billions.
“Alzheimer’s Research UK has been calling on the Government to prepare for new treatments for the last decade, and despite new drugs licenced by the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency] last year, our health systems remain woefully underprepared.
“The Government must deliver on its manifesto commitment to invest in trials and put Britain at the forefront of transforming treatment for dementia. We cannot keep asking families to wait while the science moves ahead.”
Michelle Dyson, the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We wholeheartedly welcome Baroness Casey shining a light on dementia and the challenges faced by people living with this devastating condition. Dementia is the biggest health and social care challenge of our time and prioritising it is long overdue.”
She added: “Around one million people are living with dementia in the UK, and they are one of the biggest groups drawing on social care for specialist support.”
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A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are hugely grateful to Baroness Casey for her tireless leadership and determination to transform social care in this country.
“As a result, the Government is taking decisive action by establishing a new National Safeguarding Board to better protect vulnerable adults, fast‑tracking access to care for people with motor neurone disease and accelerating work to transform dementia care and research, including by creating a dementia leadership role to drive forward action.
“This is about moving faster, cutting through delay and building a social care system that works for everyone.”
2026-03-05T21:20:40Z
