Anger over low rate
of dementia diagnoses

Dementia sufferers are facing a postcode lottery in diagnosing the condition, a charity warns today.

In the East Riding, fewer than one in three people with dementia receive a formal diagnosis compared with three quarters in other areas in the UK, figures from the Alzheimer’s Society reveal.

Across the UK, just 46 per cent of sufferers were diagnosed in 2011-12, the charity said. The figure is an improvement on the previous year but the charity is warning there are still more than 425,000 people in the UK who have the condition but have not been diagnosed – leaving them without the support and the medical treatments that can help them live with the condition.

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Belfast provided the best diagnosis rates in 2011-12, with 76 per cent of patients being told they have the condition.

But in the East Riding, just 32 per cent of patients received a formal diagnosis, according to figures produced from data generated by the Government’s qualities and outcomes framework.

The charity said the new data suggested the average waiting time for an appointment at a specialist memory clinic was 33 working days – more than the recommended four to six weeks. Some memory clinics reported waiting times of up to nine months.

Charity chief executive Jeremy Hughes said: “It’s disgraceful that almost half of all people with dementia are not receiving a diagnosis, and disappointing to see such a disparity in diagnosis rates in different regions of the UK.

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“The NHS has already made a commitment to improving diagnosis rates but more needs to be done to ensure people with dementia are able to live as well as possible with the disease.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the “extreme variation” across the country was unacceptable. “It’s time for the worst performing areas to wake up to the dementia timebomb,” he said. “While many areas do excellent work, the worst is diagnosing just a third of people with dementia – delaying vital treatment and causing unnecessary suffering.”

NHS officials in the East Riding said its performance had since improved and it was hoping rates would hit 43 per cent by March. New early diagnosis services were also being planned.

“In addition to the importance of early diagnosis, we also recognise the need to support those individuals diagnosed to enable them to live life as fully as possible after a diagnosis of dementia,” a spokesman added.