NICE dementia guidelines not being followed

pharmafile | January 15, 2010 | News story | |  NHS, NHS trusts, NICE, dementia 

Few NHS trusts are following NICE’s 2006 guidelines on dementia, according central government auditor the National Audit Office.

A NAO report on NICE’s recommendations on joint working between health and social care described the current situation in the health service as “very patchy”.

NICE made the recommendations in November 2006 to help tackle the growing problem of caring for an ageing population. A year later they were echoed by the Department of Health, which in October 2007 stated that dementia was a “national priority”.

But three years there has been no robust approach to implementation, according to the NAO report, which found some examples of excellent practice that could make a real difference if they were adopted across the country.

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The auditors said it was also not clear whether services for dementia sufferers were making best use of their budgets.

Dementia affects around 570,000 people in England and this number is predicted to double over the next 30 years, during which time the condition’s cost to the country will rise from £15.9 billion this year to £34.8 billion by 2026.

The NICE guidelines ‘Dementia: Supporting people with dementia and their carers in health and social care’ can be found here.

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