Britain is no country for old men with dementia in some areas and is one for others, elsewhere

An article in The Daily Mail newspaper today was entitled :
Laid bare, scandal of the postcode lottery for dementia care

Based on a National Health Service 'Atlas of Variation Report', it made the following points, that :

* old men suffering with dementia are, in some parts of England 53 times less likely to be given drugs to combat its devastating symptoms than those living in others and their chances of being diagnosed with the condition are entirely dependent on where they live.

* in the worst primary care trusts, which include Devon, Derbyshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset, just over 25% of patients with dementia have been diagnosed, whereas in the best, which include Hampshire and Cumbria, doctors are picking up nearly 59% of all cases.

* doctors in some parts of the country are prescribing a fraction of the amount of crucial drugs to reduce memory loss, confusion and agitation compared with doctors in other areas with the lowest rates are in Hereford, Leicestershire and Wiltshire.

* more than 766,000, mostly old Britons, are believed to suffer from some form of dementia and this figure is expected to rise to one million within the next decade, campaigners, however, estimate that nationally up to 60% are never diagnosed meaning hundreds of thousands of patients and their families are left to cope with its devastating symptoms on their own.

* ‘dementia has been stigmatised’ and patients in some areas are being denied treatment because doctors do not refer them to specialist services or they never bother making an appointment as they assume ‘nothing can be done’.


Rebecca Wood, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
" It’s a shame that there is still such inconsistency in diagnosis and treatment around the country. It will take the collective will of people with dementia and health professionals to create a culture where dementia is recognised swiftly and acted upon. A diagnosis can help people with dementia access support services and treatments to help them maintain independent living for as long as possible."

So old men : BAD NEWS FOR YOU IF YOU LIVE HERE :



GOOD NEWS FOR YOU IF YOU LIVE HERE :