Map to expose dementia care gaps

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said dementia is "one of the biggest challenges" the UK faces
29 November 2013

Significant gaps in care for dementia sufferers will be exposed by an interactive online map being published by the Government as part of a bid to improve the way they are treated by the NHS.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said allowing patients to see which parts of England were guilty of "poor performance" would help tackle what he calls a health and care "time bomb".

Fewer than half of people living with dementia have a diagnosis, official figures show, and the rate has improved only slightly - from 46% to 48% - over the last two years.

Even that increase masks wide discrepancies across different areas - with the best performing almost twice as well as the worst - 75% versus 39%.

The map will show diagnosis rates, referral rates and the frequency of anti-psychotic drug prescription for the 670,000 people with dementia.

It is part of a "state of the nation" report examining how well the condition is being dealt with - ahead of a summit of G8 nations in London next month called by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The World Health Organisation estimates that the number of people worldwide living with dementia could more than treble to 115.4 million by 2050 due to the ageing population.

The figure is expected to pass the million mark in the UK alone by the end of 2020.

Mr Hunt said: "Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation.

"This report and map will help drive up standards of dementia care across the country by showing what excellent care looks like, and challenging the rest to become like the best. Full transparency is the best way to drive up standards and tackle poor performance.

"We must come together as a society to get better at fighting dementia. We all have a role to play in helping people manage dementia better and supporting them to lead healthier lives."

The report points to an almost doubling in Government-funded research, a four-fold increase in the number assessed by memory clinics, and training for 108,000 NHS staff in spotting early symptoms.

But shadow minister for care and older people Liz Kendall said: "If David Cameron was serious about improving the quality of dementia care, he would not have cut council budgets for older people's social care to the bone.

"And if Jeremy Hunt was serious about improving transparency, he would be publishing how many 15-minute home visits there are in each area, and how many people with dementia have unnecessarily ended up in hospital or having to go into a care home because they can't get the help they need to stay living in their own homes.

"Dementia is indeed one of the biggest challenges facing this country - but, under David Cameron's watch, care for people with dementia is getting worse not better."

Alzheimer's Society director of external affairs Alison Cook told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "In some areas of the country about three-quarters of people are getting a diagnosis. In other areas of the country it's less than a third. It is really disgraceful.

"This map is a step in the right direction, because naming those areas of the country who aren't doing very well and pointing in the direction of areas which are doing very well means that they can copy best practice and just get on with making people have access to a diagnosis."

Dr Cook rejected the idea that a dementia diagnosis is of little value to patients in the absence of a cure.

She said: "You can have a prescription for some medicines which can help your brain function for a little bit longer, but importantly it gives you access to advice, it gives you time to be able to plan to put your affairs in order, and perhaps have lasting power of attorney for one of your relatives, and it also gives you access to social care."

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