Lots of fuss this morning about this.
Apparently all us GPs are to receive training to recognise dementia much, much earlier. Once we've diagnosed it we will send people with it to memory clinics for treatment.
Right.
Well, I've been diagnosing dementia for years.
I've been referring for years.
Support services for people with early disease are rudimentary. Most people with early disease are able to live completely independently.
The disease is characterised by an inevitable and inorexable decline. There is no treatment that works and even the treatments which are said to slow the progression of the disease have recently been said by the government to be too expensive. Just talking about the possibility of having it scares most people rigid. The vast majority of those with it die of something else well before the dementia itself gets severe enough to carry them off.
Which rather leaves me wondering what the point of this announcement is.
Oh wait: Parliament is in recess and Christmas is coming up...
2 comments:
I can't believe that you don't know that GPs are collectively responsible for the lack of a miracle cure for dementia. After all, you're responsible for all the other ills of the NHS. Never mind, polyclinics will solve all that. They won't have a cure for dementia either, but they will be run by private companies with really good PR departments.
Ed Balls-up has already been refered to the clinic for miracle cures for dementia, a bauble fell on his head and he never has been the same since- oh bother i got a paper cut trying to read the health and safety regulations issued by the aforementioned twat.
MY husband has been snowed under seeing patients who think they have got flu because A and E are too busy to see flu patients and this government is under the impression there is no gp services at all during the christmas break. merry christmas to you and your family.
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