The £30,000 Cost of Waiting: Why Delayed Detection is Failing Us All

Jonathan Sabarre
Aug 14
3 min read

Dementia isn’t just a personal tragedy — it’s an economic one.

Every year in the UK, dementia costs our economy £42 billion, with over 944,000 people currently living with the condition. But what’s even more shocking is the cost of waiting. For every year that early detection is delayed, the average economic burden increases by £30,000 per patient.

That cost includes not just healthcare, but lost productivity, care home placement, emergency admissions, and unpaid family care. And yet, despite this staggering impact, diagnosis still comes late — often years after the first signs appear.

At SynaptiSense, we believe that early detection isn’t a luxury — it’s a financial, medical, and human necessity.

Why Diagnosis Comes Too Late

Right now, dementia is typically diagnosed after family members notice memory lapses, confusion, or behavioural changes. From there, the patient is referred to a memory clinic — a process that can take months. By that point, the cognitive decline is often irreversible, and the window for effective intervention has closed.

The result?

Emergency care becomes more likely
More intensive (and expensive) support is needed
Families face emotional and financial strain
The NHS is stretched beyond capacity

And still, early detection methods remain limited — costly MRI scans, hard-to-access specialist services, or subjective cognitive tests. There’s a clear gap in the system. And it’s costing everyone.

A Preventable Financial Burden

Let’s break down what that £30,000/year figure includes:

Specialist consultations
Hospital stays and outpatient services
Residential care and home assistance
Support for family carers (unpaid or underpaid)
Prescriptions and psychiatric interventions
Lost earnings due to early retirement or job loss

Many of these costs can be reduced — or even avoided — through earlier detection and smarter planning.

Early diagnosis allows:

Timely intervention that can delay disease progression
Lower-cost, community-based support
Better coordination of care
More informed, proactive decision-making

The SynaptiSense Solution

SynaptiSense is developing a tool that flips the model. Rather than waiting for visible decline, our platform uses AI to detect dementia 5–7 years before symptoms appear — via non-invasive, everyday interactions.

We analyse four data streams:

Speech patterns — subtle linguistic changes invisible to the ear
Cognitive games — tracking memory, speed, and adaptability over time
Wearable health data — such as sleep, step count, and heart rate variability
Behavioural signals — consistent usage patterns and changes in routine

This approach has already achieved 96% accuracy in wearable trials and shown strong engagement from early testers. Our system doesn’t require hospital visits, referrals, or expensive imaging — it’s affordable, accessible, and designed for daily life.

It’s Not Just the NHS That Pays

Families bear the brunt of delayed diagnosis:

Loss of independence and mobility
Career disruptions for carers
Emotional burnout and mental health issues
Legal and financial planning under pressure

Early detection provides time to:

Prepare legally and financially
Access appropriate support and respite care
Begin lifestyle changes that may delay progression
Make decisions together, rather than in crisis

That peace of mind is priceless — but it also makes economic sense.

🎯 It’s Time to Change the Model

Delaying diagnosis doesn’t save money. It shifts the cost to a later stage — when it’s higher, harder to manage, and more painful for families.

SynaptiSense is on a mission to reduce these costs by identifying dementia earlier, giving patients and families more time to act, and enabling a proactive rather than reactive system.