GPs will participate in new pilots which will see care home residents proactively screened for dementia in 14 areas of England.
The new drive to improve diagnosis rates will see GPs share a list of care home residents who currently do not have a dementia diagnosis.
Staff involved in NHS England’s pilot will then check with the care home to see if those listed have memory problems.
At-risk residents will be offered a full face-to-face assessment by a clinician who may be a specialist nurse or another healthcare professional.
The clinician will review the patient’s use of medication and speak to family and friends to determine whether they have dementia.
NHS England said it will be investing £900,000 to launch two pilots in each of England’s seven regions, following a successful earlier trial in Norfolk.
NHS England’s national clinical director for dementia Professor Alistair Burns said: ‘The pandemic has naturally had an impact on the number of people diagnosed with dementia, with elderly people seeing fewer people to protect themselves from Covid-19.
‘The NHS is determined to ensure those who developed dementia during the pandemic are given a diagnosis as it will open up doors to further support for people and their families who suffer from this heart-breaking disease.
‘There are many things we can do in the NHS to care for and support people if they do get a diagnosis, and importantly there is support for their families and carers too.’
He added that people who have noticed dementia symptoms in relatives over the festive period should ‘encourage them to visit their GP for an assessment’.
People with dementia face waits of up to two years for a diagnosis because memory clinics are ‘chronically underfunded and overlooked’, an audit of services across England and Wales found last year.
Meanwhile, antipsychotic prescribing to dementia patients in care homes rose by over 50% on average during the pandemic.
READERS' COMMENTS [4]
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Why can’t care home staff do MMSE or GPcog?
How is the diagnosis of dementia of residents already in care homes going to be helpful? Will it result in better funding/ more resources to support the care homes? Thought not. Then, what is the point of this? By all means concentrate resources on diagnosis of those in the community who do not have access to 24/7 care, but this is a politically driven box ticking exercise that provides a label and then little else and as Dr N suggests above can be administered with very simple tools without spending £900K.
No point testing in care homes 99% have dementia/cognitive impairment,thats the reason most were dumped there.No point no funding locally demented folk in their own home with little if any support.The care homes are understaffed and underfunded.No specialists are homes within 50 miles locally.The social care system is totally shot.The Tories have kicked soma foundation stones away from what remained of the wealfare state there’s now no way back.Have they planned for an inclusive universal replacement.Doubt it very much.Food backs soon workhouses.Hope they are happy with their good work.Arrogance no no limits they are now taking on million of public sector workers in what looks increasingly like a general strike.Everyone loses with this government including the corrupt(now rich ) off shore making PPE politicians.The race to the bottom is now a sprint.
@Michael
Agreed. I do a monthly ward round at a large nursing home and sometimes I take a few minutes to do a 6-cit and diagnose a patient with dementia via the nice easy little protocol called Diadem (details online).
But it’s really a matter of (my) curiosity only. The staff know who is confused and who isn’t, and rightly act according to their perception, not according to whether I’ve coded “dementia” or not. I’ve seen no evidence that my coding dementia leads to any change in the care offered, or any clinical benefit.