Doctors say diagnosing dementia early is pointless as patients often face delays in receiving the care they need
They claimed a government drive for earlier diagnosis simply “increases distress” for patients and families
DIAGNOSING dementia early is “pointless” as patients often face delays in receiving the care they need, doctors said yesterday.
They claimed a government drive for earlier diagnosis simply “increases distress” for patients and families.
It often takes months for a new patient to be referred to a memory clinic for a full assessment and proper care.
Meanwhile, they must live with the terrifying knowledge they have the degenerative illness.
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Dr Gary Wannan, chairman of the British Medical Association’s community care committee, said: “There’s no point in giving someone a label and then not being able to provide support.”
Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee, added: “You would never tolerate it in any other area of medicine. You should being seeing a specialist within a couple of weeks.”
Both doctors told an annual BMA meeting in Belfast they were not saying giving no diagnosis was “kinder”. But that doctors should make the diagnosis and then fight for the care.
The number of people diagnosed with dementia has almost doubled from 250,000 in 2009 to 435,000 now. 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.”