Patients with dementia ‘given healthcare that is second class’

DEMENTIA patients are often condemned to poor care for other illnesses, doctors have warned.

They said the ‘stigma’ around the condition meant they were given less attention than patients who were similarly ill.

They also said sufferers in their 90s or older were likely to be written off when they could receive treatment.

Charities said the warnings – issued at the Dementias 2017 conference – showed the need for fair treatment.

‘People with dementia have a right to equal access to treatment, support and care irrespective of their condition,’ said Rachel Thompson of Dementia UK.

‘Dementia affects everyone – the person with the condition and their family and friends. It is critical that the correct support and care systems are in place to ensure the well-being of everyone involved.’

The conference – held last week at the Royal College of GPs in London – was told dementia patients and their families were too often sidelined.

Dr Liz Sampson, a palliative care specialist at University College London, told the conference about an 80-year-old woman she saw last Tuesday.

She had a tumour that produced similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s but was offered much better care than would have been offered to a dementia patient.

‘What struck me was the cornucopia of services that were available to her and her family,’ she said.

‘She was bed-bound, she was doubly incontinent, agitated – her presentation was 99 per cent similar to the people that I see with advanced dementia. So we manage to provide care when there’s a diagnosis of a brain

‘Prioritising the young’

tumour, yet the prognosis is the same as someone in the advanced stages of dementia.’

Jonathan Waite, a consultant in old age psychiatry from Nottingham, said he felt the NHS prioritised the care of younger people. He said: ‘I’m really concerned about the ageism inherent in the whole process.’

Speaking afterwards, he added: ‘Older people have been contributing to the system their whole lives yet we seem to prioritise resources on the young.’

He said many older people who appeared to have dementia could have a simple short-term condition such as delirium instead.

And he said confused patients in their 90s were often diagnosed with dementia without other options being considered properly.

Another doctor, who did not give her name, admitted colleagues tended to make less effort with elderly patients as soon as they realised they had dementia.

‘Sometimes, even if I think someone who is 95 has Alzheimer’s disease, I might not diagnose it because I know it will be a negative stigma for the patient,’ she said. ‘It won’t be in the patient’s best interests to have the diagnosis because once they have that diagnosis we won’t care about their physical health as much.’