Dementia patients forced to rely on unpaid carers, poll says

 

Three-quarters of GPs say their dementia patients are forced to rely on family, friends, neighbours or other unpaid carers, because they get insufficient help from health and social care services.

Stephen Blakeburn, 50, who cares for his mother, Jenny (left), 86, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2010. GPs believe dementia patients are being failed by health and social care services. Photograph: Alzheimer’s Society/PA Photograph: Alzheimer’s Society/PA

A survey of 1,013 family doctors by the Alzheimer’s Society paints a worrying picture of a situation in which patients are often let down or left confused by the health and social care system.

According to the poll, a quarter of GPs are reluctant to refer people with suspected dementia if support services are not in place – potentially undermining a national drive to improve rates of diagnosis. A similar percentage said their ability to manage a patient with the condition was hampered by their own lack of training.

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