Dementia diagnosis drive is ‘pointless’
Without better care, it’s just box-ticking, say doctors
THE NHS drive to diagnose dementia is ‘ pointless’ because little can be done to help patients and their families, GPs have warned.
They say ministers and officials are obsessed with ‘hitting targets’ on detection rates yet fail to provide matching support and care for those affected.
The Government has repeatedly pledged to make Britain a world leader in dementia diagnosis and care. In 2014, GPs were offered £55 bonuses under an NHS scheme for every new case picked up.
But representatives of the British Medical Association warned yesterday that family doctors were simply being told ‘to tick boxes’ without offering proper support for anxious patients and families.
They voted to support a policy stating that the Government’s dementia drive is ‘pointless’ and ‘only serves to increase distress for patients and families’.
Campaigners condemned the move, saying GPs should never be discouraged from detecting the devastating illness.
An estimated 850,000 adults in Britain have dementia, although only about half have received a formal diagnosis.
Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA’s GP committee, said: ‘The key concern that GPs have is that there’s been a focus on counting numbers and hitting targets, rather than… providing services to patients.
‘This is both in terms of diagnosis, investigation, but then, crucially, support – not only for patients with dementia but also of their carers as well. GPs have been really frustrated that politicians appear to have been doing something, by getting GPs to tick boxes, and missing the real point, which is what patients are wanting – fundamental support.’
Dr Gary Wannan, chairman of the BMA’s community care committee, said: ‘There’s no point in giving someone a label, but then not being able to provide support.’
The BMA stressed that GPs should never be discouraged from diagnosing dementia, but that it made little sense to improve detection rates without offering accompanying help for patients.
But Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said even approving the motion was a ‘disappointing step backwards’.
He added: ‘There is still a desperate lack of support for people with dementia and this will only make it worse by masking the need.
‘To deny someone a diagnosis on this basis also doesn’t take away the fact they are experiencing debilitating symptoms – just without a name for them.’
Professor Alistair Burns, NHS England’s national clinical director for dementia, said: ‘ Awareness of dementia is at its highest and we believe that timely diagnosis allows people to access the emotional, practical and financial support that brings.’
HOSPITALS must be more ‘dementia-friendly’ to avoid distressing patients, nurses have said.
Those suffering from the condition are often admitted for other health problems and treated without it being taken into account.
As a result they can be transferred between a number different wards, which can be ‘ confusing and distressing’, the Royal College of Nursing’s dementia chief Dawne Garrett told the union’s congress in Glasgow yesterday.