Tag Archives: carers
Devon MP Ben Bradshaw says dementia not properly diagnosed
People suffering with dementia in south-west England are not being properly diagnosed until it is too late, a Devon MP has said.
During a House of Commons debate, Exeter’s Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw, said the region had the lowest formal diagnosis rates in England.
He added that, in Devon, only a third of patients were correctly diagnosed.
Elderly denied NHS care ‘can sue’
By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online
From October, elderly patients will have the right to sue if they have been denied care based on age alone, says Care Minister Paul Burstow.
This will not mean patients can demand any treatment they want. Care decisions will still be judged according to clinical need by doctors.
But NHS staff will have a legal duty to consider wellbeing and dignity.
How dementia can turn our loved ones into strangers
Most of us think of dementia as a disease of the elderly, where you just get forgetful.
DEMENTIA Awareness Week was from May 21 to 27 and I was saddened to notice that the media did not rise to the challenge to do their bit to promote and highlight the daily problems encountered by those touched by this very cruel disease.
Unfortunately it coincided with, and got buried under, coverage of the Olympic Torch, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Leveson Inquiry and the pasty and caravan tax U-turns.
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CRUEL DISEASE: Sandra Pember, right, lost her mother to Alzheimer’s a year ago.
It seemed shameful that the price of a pasty or caravan should have generated more coverage than promoting the plight of those suffering from dementia and those supporting them.
Most of us have heard the name dementia, and will know someone who has got it but until you have had personal experience of exactly what that diagnosis means, the full impact upon the lives of that person, their family and close friends cannot be fully appreciated or understood.
