The number of people with dementia in Swindon is set to soar by 50 per cent from 2,600 people to 3,908 by 2030, according to a new report.

The report commissioned by Alzheimer’s Society from the LSE.predicts that as the population ages, a higher proportion of people with dementia will have higher care needs for longer, driving up the average amount spent on care.

More than 60 per cent of yearly social care costs in England will fall on people with dementia and their families. Philip Scott’s mum Sylvia, 90, is in the late stages of dementia and her house was sold to help pay for her care.

Philip said: “Mum wouldn’t survive more than 48 hours without nursing care. Why has she had to spend £160,000 to make sure that doesn’t happen?

“The whole process of having to argue again and again why my mum needed support was really harrowing. It took three attempts before we managed to get Continuing Health Care funding for her, and even now we are afraid that the funding will be taken away.

“People with dementia have been side-lined and treated very differently to those with other diseases.”

Alzheimer’s Society’s call ahead of the general election, from its Fix Dementia Care campaign, is for all political parties to commit to radically reform dementia care which they say should be funded like other public services, like education and the NHS.

Marion Child from Alzheimer’s Society South West said: “Dementia is heart-breaking for families. It’s not right that those going through it have to battle to get the care they need on top of battling the disease.

“From the working mum struggling to find hundreds of pounds every week to ‘top up’ her mum’s council-funded care home place, to the woman who had to sell her home of 50 years to pay for her husband’s care.

"Families affected by dementia are already at breaking point. With costs set to treble in the next two decades, how on earth will they cope?

“The cost of dementia care is too much for an individual to bear. It should be spread between us – just like schools, the NHS and other public services.

"Every party must go into this election with a solid plan to radically reform dementia care. Families in crisis need action, and they need it now.”