A third of Britons who have concerns about whether they, or a loved one, might have dementia wait more than a month to discuss their worries with others, a leading charity has found, despite early diagnosis being important for treatment, support and planning.
And when, like me, you do report to your GP that your mother is showing symptoms? You then wait a year and a half for any investigation to take place! Desprite regular chivvying of the surgery...
The survey, which was conducted between 30 March and 4 April and completed by people for whom either themselves or a loved one have suspected or diagnosed dementia, also suggested nearly a quarter of respondents took more than six months before consulting a medical professional.
Probably takes that long to get through to the surgery.
It’s nearly thirteen years since a report in the BMJ found that GPs were doing ‘too little, too late’ to tackle dementia, so they have had plenty of time to improve things.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, particularly if you live far away from the patient and can’t accompany him/her to appointments, it is virtually impossible to raise concerns with the surgery, Social Services or any other official body you can think of (that is, if anyone picks up the phone at all) as their default response is to parrot a dismissive phrase or two about ‘data protection’ and hang up on you (or, more creatively, put you on hold until the end of business hours).
If you will forgive a link and a quote (based on bitter experience):
‘Off the record, a health worker tells me that almost all of the patients in his Dementia Unit come in via A&E, having had a fall, injured themselves or been found wandering the streets in a state of confusion.
If you hear about a dementia sufferer in this situation, spare a thought for the family who let things get that far; they may not be neglectful, indifferent or unkind, but just victims of seemingly unbreakable NHS red tape.
https://newgatenews.blogspot.com/2010/08/too-little-too-late-for-dementia.html
"In my experience, particularly if you live far away from the patient and can’t accompany him/her to appointments, it is virtually impossible to raise concerns with the surgery..."
ReplyDeleteThankfully, that's not the case with me, but it must be even worse for relatives not living nearby.
And since we are no longer in Europe, why are we still allowing 'data protection' to be used as a shield for the lazy and incompetent?