Tag Archives: carers

Carers warned of blind spot for dementia sufferers

June 3, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Blind, Carers, dementia, Scotland

Carers warned of blind spot for dementia victims

Published on 03/06/2013 01:17

PEOPLE with dementia may also suffer sight loss that goes undetected because they are unable to communicate that something is wrong, campaigners have warned.

Alzheimer Scotland and the Royal National Institute for Blind People Scotland said carers and health workers may attribute any problems to the mental condition of dementia patients rather than putting it down to sight loss.

The charities are launching a new booklet – Dementia and Sight Loss – to try to tackle the problem.

The new advice booklet explains how to detect the first signs that something may be wrong with a patient’s sight.

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Takashi Asada, a Japanese professor specializing in dementia

June 3, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

4.6 million elderly are suffering dementia

Kyodo

The number of people with dementia aged 65 or older reached an estimated 4.62 million last year, accounting for 15 percent of the age bracket, according to a health ministry survey.

A study group under the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry also calculated that another 4 million senior citizens, up from 3.8 million in 2010, suffered from mild cognitive impairment, which can evolve into dementia.

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A&E crisis leads to surge in cancelled operations

June 2, 2013   Carers, health, hospital

Doctors raise alarm as surgery is hit, after figures show cancellations have reached a 10-year high

The Observer,

 

More than 220 operations a day were cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice during the first three months of 2013

More planned operations were cancelled in the first few months of this year than for any similar period in almost a decade, it has been revealed, as senior surgeons warn that the crisis in accident and emergency is cascading through the NHS.

More than 220 operations a day were cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice during the first three months of 2013, official figures show. A similar scale of cancellations of elective surgery has not been seen since 2004-5. NHS England figures further reveal that the proportion of those patients not treated within 28 days of being turned away from operating tables has crept up to 5.6% – a four-year high.

The number of urgent operations cancelled every month has also doubled under the coalition, from 172 in August 2010 to 401 in April this year.

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