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£55 For Each Dementia Diagnosis

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ludwig | 08:04 Wed 22nd Oct 2014 | News
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Does anyone else find the concept of paying doctors to produce a specific diagnosis bizarre and slightly worrying?

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29718618

I'd be concerned that I went in for an ingrowing toenail only to find out I had dementia.
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Sounds like dementia to me, Naomi. ;)
Me too, Svejk.
Nope, madness, I cannot believe anyone is stupid enough to go for this, just read the "parable" of the chinese emperor! utter madness.
So....when you have diagnosed "dementia" and have collected your £55, who confirms the diagnosis?

Do you refer them on to a Psych-geriatrician which should have been done in the first place without the "bribe" or do you manage then yourselves?
What management........and do you give the £55 back if your diagnosis proves to be incorrect?

What is the function of a GP.

a) to detect who is ill and who isn't.
b) to refer patients to hospital for "specialist" treatment e.g ? cancer
c) See any patient within 24 hours at the surgery.

I can't see why GP's are paid extra for maternity care, routine blood tests, minor surgery or diagnosing dementia.

Just make general practice a service for the patient over a 24 hour period and make easy access to your GP.

Primary Care is an expensive luxury demanded by the patient which the state cannot afford.


I would very much doubt the competance of a GP to diagnose dementia properly.
My mother went to her GP and came out with a diagnosis of dementia. Apparently that was based on her walk. What the doctor hadn't taken into account was an accident she had had 12 months prior when she broke her pelvic bone in a fall.
On another occassion, my mother was displaying signs of dementia, which her GP didn't pick up on. That turned out to be due to medication she was given. She had gone into hospital and given digitalis. That should have been a temporary thing but a year later she was still being perscribed it by her GP. When I realised she was still taking it, and that it was that which was causing her dementia symptoms, i told her to tell her GP. The GP was reluctant to take her off the Digitalis, because a consultant at the hospital had first perscribed it. I had to go with my mother to see her GP and I had to tell the GP she would not be taking it any longer, and that the GP must give her some alternative medication. When she stopped taking Digitalis, her mental health improved dramatically.
So no, I would not trust a GP to accurately diagnose correctly, based on what I have seen.
The only advantage to this that I can see, is a patience getting a proper diagnosis of Dementia and which dementia, rather than a general diagnosis of "Dementia" with no further action or investigation being carried out, which I think is usually the case, in my experience.
Just to add to my story above.

My mother's GP, on diagnosing dementia, referred her to the hospital. The hosiptal said she had no signs of dementia and realised her difficulty walking was because of her fall a few months earlier.

If this scheme had been in place then, the GP would have collected £55. Would they have paid it back when the diagnosis was proven wrong?

The wrong diagnosis caused my mother great anxiety in the weeks she waited to be seen at the hospital.
I agree with Squad...."I can't see why GP's are paid extra for maternity care, routine blood tests, minor surgery or diagnosing dementia."

I feel sure there are a lot of other extras; such as the 'Flu Jab' which is forcefully pushed to all over 65. Pity we can't get a full list of them.

Hans.
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// £55 for a dementia diagnosis would be ok if:
1) It was at patient request only
2) There was something behind it, eg a support network if you have it (Other than where are the deeds to your house) //

I'd probably add to that youngmaf...

3) The patient actually has dementia
There are going to be a lot more wealthy doctors this time next year. A rash Mrs x? No dear, it's dementia £55 please. Tennis elbow Mr x ? No sir, it's dementia £55 please. Kerching !!! Money money money, must be funny, in the GPs' world.
Both bizarre and worrying. Why should doctors be paid extra for doing their job? As others have pointed out, we'll all be walking out of surgeries with diagnoses of early-onset dementia (well, in my case, not early onset!). Seriously, it would deter met from going to the doctor's with anything that was not obviously physical, such as a rash.
I don't think they should be paid to diagnose dementia. Isn't that part of their job?
They will be giving Doctors money for every corpse they find at this rate !
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// I don't think they should be paid to diagnose dementia. Isn't that part of their job? //

Yes, but not enough people are being diagnosed with dementia soon enough, so doctors need a bit of a backhander to improve those diagnosis figures.

It's the kind of 5h1t governments pull when they want to improve statistics, without actually doing anything to solve the problem that's causing the statistics to be bad in the first place.
They've normally got enough sense to keep it secret though, rather than openly announcing it as an actual policy.
F-----g well fed up of doctor asking inane questions. eg. "How much time do you spend doing Housework?" He was unable to define "Housework".
Do not actually own a stop watch. Yes , I know what day of the week it is. If he is unsure why not ask his receptionist? Who is the Prime Minister? Couldn't give a stuff about politics. Surely he could find the answers on the internet?
May I claim the £55 for diagnosing his dementia?
I haven't got it - honest! Although no doubt I could be proved wrong.
Now I think about it I am allergic to housework - does that count?
No star, join the club. Wonder how long he spends on housework?

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