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Community care minister Stephen Ladyman said this week that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's proposal that four Alzheimer's drugs should no longer be available on the NHS could be reversed following consultation.

He told the annual long-term care for older people conference, held in London, that several of Nice's preliminary recommendations had been overturned in the past and added: "My guess is that [this recommendation] will change." However, he defended Nice's proposals, saying "for many people, evidence suggests these drugs do not work at all".

Although Nice has concluded the drugs are beneficial, it has decided that the £2.50 per person per day cost of the drugs make them too expensive for the NHS.

Nice's proposal has been strongly opposed, with the Royal College of Psychiatrists arguing that Nice's latest advice on Donepezil, Rivastigmine, Galantamine and Memantine contradicts its 2001 guidance.

The Alzheimer's Society said it was "shocked" by the recommendations, which could mean thousands of people being denied the only drug treatment available to them. "Nice seems to have concluded that people with dementia are a group of people not worth spending money on," said chief executive Neil Hunt.