Burnham admits dementia patients are treated worse than those with cancer as he promises wage rises for carers on 'poverty pay'

Andy Burnham has admitted dementia patients are treated worse than those with cancer as he promised wage rises for carers on 'poverty pay'.

The Prime Minister, whose father Roy died from dementia last month, said Britain is failing to provide enough support for people diagnosed with the disease and the families caring for them.

Speaking to Natalie Cassidy for her 'Life with Nat' podcast, Mr Burnham criticised the low wages paid to people working in social care and revealed that one of his father's carers had been homeless.

He promised better pay and career prospects under a National Care Service, which he is working to establish.

Speaking about dementia, the PM said: 'I'm not sure as a society we're set up at all yet to support people with dementia - a shocking journey, really, when you get a diagnosis and then you're told 'there's nothing we can do'.'

When Ms Cassidy, a former EastEnders actress who cared for her own father, responded, 'You're on your own, aren't you?', Mr Burnham agreed.

He said: 'You are. We have a situation where the world is set up to support, when you hear the word cancer and everything clicks in, and that's great, and it should be like that.

'But we won't be ready for the 21st century until we support people with dementia as well as we support people with cancer. And that, in the end, is what we've got to do.'

His comments come after Michelle Dyson, chief executive of Alzheimer's Society, accused the NHS of treating dementia patients as 'second-class citizens' who are 'cast aside' and typically sent home with little more than a leaflet.

The Daily Mail and Alzheimer's Society have partnered in a drive to defeat dementia, which claims 76,000 lives a year as Britain's biggest killer.

The Defeating Dementia campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease, in an effort to increase early diagnosis, boost research and improve care.

Mr Burnham has backed the campaign and pledged to 'throw the weight of government' behind the effort in memory of his late dad.

In his interview with Ms Cassidy, who obtained a qualification in health and care after quitting EastEnders last year, Mr Burnham spoke about the strain his father's care needs placed on his mother, who struggled with inadequate support at home.

She received 15-minute care visits which became insufficient as his father's needs grew.

The Prime Minister said: 'Sometimes people look at the person who's got the dementia or whatever it might be and they don't see what's happening to the person around who's… and I think if we're honest, we took a while to work out that my mum really couldn't, was not in a sustainable position.

'What we've got to get to, in my view, is a very different model of home care, people being supported in their own home.

'And it's a model that's going to help family carers make it sustainable.'

Asked by Ms Cassidy whether the National Care Service would deliver better pay, Burnham replied: 'I'm not going to avoid that question because that is a crucial question and the answer is yes.'

Mr Burnham said seeing carers look after his father had changed his perspective on what they do, adding: They're trying to live on poverty pay, because that's what it is, caring for other people's parents, holding a broken system together, and they can still turn up at his funeral.

'I'm just like, it's unbelievable how badly they've been let down by the people in my profession over a long, long time.'

The PM admitted he had found it 'intensely hard' balancing his father's death with the pressures of his new job.

Writing in the Daily Mail earlier this month, Mr Burnham said: 'I know how it feels to lose a loved one to dementia. That's why I'm pleased to support the Daily Mail and Alzheimer's Society's Defeating Dementia campaign.

'We'll throw the weight of government behind that effort.'