UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour - GP’s to be PAID £55 For Dementia Diagnosis

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

GP’s to be PAID £55 For Dementia Diagnosis

The BBC have reported that family doctors in England are to be paid £55 for each patient they diagnose with dementia, NHS bosses say.

NHS England said the aim of the six-month £5m scheme was to increase the number of sufferers who receive treatment for the condition, which causes a decline in brain function.

It is estimated up to 90,000 patients are living with undiagnosed dementia.

But the Patients Association called it "a step too far" that would mean a "bounty on the head" of some patients.

Fewer than half of the 800,000 people in the UK who are estimated to have dementia have been formally diagnosed.

Dementia is an umbrella term used for a collection of symptoms resulting from a number of different diseases of the brain.

There are many types but all tend to affect brain function and cause problems with memory, mental agility, language skills, and the ability to carry out everyday tasks.  NHS England has aimed to diagnose two thirds of people with dementia by 2015.

Some practices are diagnosing far fewer - and this £5m fund will reward them for getting nearer to that level.

NHS England said it was "not just payment for diagnosis" and GP practices would have to form a detailed plan and show improving diagnosis rates.

It may include measures such as improving the way cases are recorded by a practice - so they are counted properly, or visiting care homes to assess very elderly people who have not previously been checked for dementia.

There is already a £42m scheme in England where GP practices were paid for offering appropriate assessments of people who came in with memory problems, or those with conditions that put them at increased risk of the disease.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

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