GPs will be paid £150 for each patient they diagnose dementia to cut demand on memory clinics
The controversial "cash for diagnosis" scheme is set to be introduced at some practices in the West Midlands this month
FAMILY doctors will be paid £150 for each patient they diagnose and treat for dementia in a bid to cut queues at memory clinics.
The controversial “cash for diagnosis” scheme will be introduced at some practices in the West Midlands this month.
The doctors will also be paid £50 if they refer patients to another GP when they are too busy to complete the process themselves.
GPs are currently responsible for referring patients to a dedicated memory clinic, where they are assessed and diagnosed by specialists.
But many assessment centres have been overwhelmed as a result of a government drive to identify more victims of the degenerative brain disease.
NHS Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group said the new incentive scheme will see GPs diagnosing and initiating the treatment for the “less complicated” cases only.
A similar national project was scrapped shortly after launch when critics branded it “unethical”, time consuming, and pointless – because there is no cure.
Dudley CCG proposed the measure after finding patients currently wait an average of 13 weeks to be seen by the local memory clinic.
In the future, rather than referring all people to the dementia assessment service for diagnosis we hope to encourage more GPs to make that diagnosis quickly in primary care
Dr David Hegarty
A spokesman said they hope the scheme will “take the pressure off the dementia assessment service so that patients with milder dementia or abnormal presentations can be assessed by specialists much sooner”.
Around 850,000 people are living with dementia in the UK but this far exceeds those with a formal diagnosis.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged to speed up the process and made it a priority for the NHS.
Only 42 per cent of cases were formally diagnosed in 2012, rising to 62 per cent in 2015. Ministers want to see it rise to 72 per cent this year.
Diagnoses of dementia increased by a fifth during the national scheme in 2014/15, where the government paid GPs £55 for each patient identified.
But clinics often became clogged up with patients that suffered from only mild dementia or did not have it at all – resulting in delays for the more serious cases.
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Early diagnosis ends uncertainty, increases understanding and provides patients with access to support, including advice on coping strategies.
Dr David Hegarty, NHS Dudley CCG chair and a GP in Stourbridge, said: “Our aspiration is not to persuade GPs to diagnose dementia but to facilitate information so GPs can feel safe about diagnosing dementia in certain clinical situations.
“In the future, rather than referring all people to the dementia assessment service for diagnosis we hope to encourage more GPs to make that diagnosis quickly in primary care.
I really would be interested to see how it will materialise as I don’t really think GPs have the time
Dr Uzma Ahmad
“This is in direct response to the feedback we have had from carers about the impact of a delayed diagnosis.”
But Dr Uzma Ahmad, from the British Medical Association’s GP Committee, said: “I really would be interested to see how it will materialise as I don’t really think GPs have the time.
“Although they say it is just easy, less complicated cases in over-75s you cannot reach a diagnosis until you make a proper careful assessment that takes time and we don’t have the time at the moment to do that.”
Mr Hunt said previously: “Dementia can be a horrific and heart-breaking disease, but it is my mission as Health Secretary to make this country the best place in the world to get a dementia diagnosis, as well as a global leader in the fight to find a cure.”
Britain’s leading GP has warned patients face waiting a month for an appointment at surgeries across the country because they are struggling to cope with demand.
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