Dementia sufferers 'failed by system' (From The Northern Echo)

Dementia sufferers 'failed by system'

9:30am Tuesday 7th August 2007 in Don't Stop Dementia Drugs

DEMENTIA sufferers are being failed by the system, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis admitted yesterday.

He was speaking at the launch of the first national strategy for dealing with the disease which affects about 600,000 people in England - a figure expected to double in the next 30 years.

Mr Lewis said: "We know that too many families feel the current NHS and social care systems are not meeting their needs. The current system is failing too many dementia sufferers and their carers."

During the launch in London, he said it was time to lift the disease "out of the shadows". Mr Lewis said that the disease, "which strikes fear into the hearts of all of us" is often wrongly diagnosed, for example, as depression.

The new strategy will look at three main ways to improve the diagnosis and treatment of dementia - increasing awareness of the disease, ensuring early diagnosis and providing higher-quality services.

Ideas to be considered include an information campaign with tips for detecting the first signs of dementia and staff training to improve diagnosis.

Ministers will announce a "transformation plan" next summer to improve dementia services across the country.

Also present at the announcement was Barbara Pointon, whose husband Malcolm, a pianist and composer, suffered from dementia.

Some of his final days were documented for the controversial ITV programme, Malcolm and Barbara: Love's Farewell, which will be screened tomorrow. Mrs Pointon said that the new strategy was "wonderful".

On Friday, the High Court will rule on the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to restrict access to key drugs to those suffering from only moderate dementia.

Last year, The Northern Echo launched its Don't Stop Dementia Drugs campaign, which called on the NHS to provide Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl on the NHS to patients in the earlier stages of dementia.

The three drugs, which cost as little as £2.50 per person, per day, can help dementia sufferers carry out everyday tasks.

More than 3,000 readers backed our campaign by sending protests to the Department of Health.

But Mr Lewis insisted that the controversy over the three drugs would not obstruct the strategy's dealing with dementia. "By no means is the main or only issue about drugs and medication," he said.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said that yesterday was a "pivotal moment" for families affected by the disease.

"Dementia is the health and social care challenge of the century," he said. "This is an exciting opportunity to make sure the knowledge and expertise we now have about dementia care and treatment makes a difference to the lives of thousands of people throughout England."

New Alzheimer's drugs now being investigated may also prevent people going blind, research suggests.

Scientists at University College London have shown for the first time that proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease are also implicated in glaucoma.