Dementia patients slipping through the net, warn experts

HOSPITAL staff in Scotland need to be trained to spot dementia, say experts, who warn that almost half of elderly people on wards have the condition but have not been diagnosed.

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) revealed that at any one time in Scotland’s hospitals, up to 1,600 elderly people have the illness.

The experts say these patients are “highly vulnerable” and at higher risk of death while in hospital, risk receiving inappropriate care, experience delays in appropriate care and are more likely to stay in hospital longer than necessary. Doctors from the RCPE are meeting today to look at ways to improve diagnosis of patients with the illness.

They are expected to call for staff on acute wards in Scotland’s hospitals to be trained in how to test for the condition.

Professor Alasdair MacLullich, chairman of RCPE’s organising sub-committee and professor of geriatric medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, said: “The diagnosis and assessment of dementia presents a major challenge to medical staff in 
hospitals.

“Medical training must evolve in line with the evolving ‘dementia epidemic’ to ensure medical staff are trained in 
diagnosing, assessing and treating dementia.”

The college says dementia is now present in a quarter of all Scottish hospital in-patients and more than 40 per cent of over-70s admitted to hospital. And it warns that many more people have the illness but have yet to be diagnosed.

The RCPE says the ageing population means the number of people with the illness is set to rise, which puts pressure on medical staff in hospitals to keep up to date with ways to look out for and treat patients.

The college says: “Most acute hospitals have medicine for the elderly wards, but the current structure of training does not universally include training in the diagnosis and assessment of cognitive disorders including dementia.”

Emma Reynish, professor of dementia research at Stirling University and consultant geriatrician at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital, said: “It is vital dementia is recognised early in order to ensure that patients and those who care for them receive appropriate treatment and care.”

In Scotland, between 58,000 and 65,000 people have 
dementia.

It is most common in older people but can affect people in their 40s or 50s or even younger.

Henry Simmons, chief executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said: “It is only with a diagnosis we can ensure not only more appropriate hospital care, but also offer better information, advice and community-based support for the person and their family”.