Staffordshire: Dementia cases to double in next decade

The number of dementia sufferers in Staffordshire is set to soar by more than half over the next 14 years, reports The Sentinel.

According to research commissioned by the Alzheimer's Society, there are currently 9,537 people with dementia in Staffordshire - 6.8% of the population.

But the study, which was carried out by the London School of Economics and King's College London, estimates there will be 14,785 sufferers in the county by 2021, a rise of 55%.

And the number of younger people developing dementia is expected to rise due to an increase in binge-drinking.

Elaine Ivis, West Midlands area manager of the Alzheimer's Society, said the predicted rise was mainly due to the ageing population.

She said: "Dementia is set to increase by a phenomenal amount in Staffordshire.

"The first thing we need to do is accept this is going to happen. There is still a big stigma about mental health and also about being old."

But some under-65s suffer from dementia and the number is set to increase. At the moment there are 230 under-65s in Staffordshire with dementia. By 2021 this figure is estimated to be 243.

Ms Ivis said the Alzheimer's Society believed more people would suffer from Korsakoff's Syndrome, a brain disorder associated with heavy drinking, in the future because of Britain's binge drinking culture.

She said: "We need to start people thinking about how to tackle this challenge. We are recommending that dementia is made a priority nationally and locally."

So why are some of Staffordshire's MPs considering voting a massive 60% funding increase to the audit-failing EU, while local health services clearly need extra investment to cope with this looming problem?

More needs to be spent both on research into the causes of dementia, and on care and treatment facilities. Not on the wasteful and fraud-ridden European Union, which hasn't had the "majority" of its spending approved by auditors for twelve years in a row.

Find out whether your MP is going to vote in favour of the EU budget deal, and consequently restrict the funding available to local public services.

NHS facing dementia time bomb

This weekend the Observer reports that a new study - commissioned by the Alzheimer's Society and set to be published next week - will reveal that the number of people suffering from dementia in the UK will rise by a million to 1.7m by 2050.

According to the report, within two decades there will be a million dementia sufferers and demand on the NHS for services will escalate.

It warns that, as the proportion of older people in the population increases and family members are less able or willing to provide care, there will be an explosion of demand, placing 'an intolerable strain' on the NHS.

The Alzheimer's Society is expected to argue that what is needed is a national dementia plan, similar to the NHS plans that already exist to deal with cancer, strokes and heart disease.

This would elevate dementia from a low to a high national health priority, establish long-term investment in research and treatment, improve the quality of life of those with dementia and their carers and, crucially, promote early diagnosis.

Professor Martin Prince of the Institute of Psychiatry, one of the lead researchers on the study, said "If you look at priorities within the NHS, dementia receives very little investment. Yet while figures for cancer, heart disease and strokes are stabilising, the rates of dementia are substantially on the increase."

Back in October, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) advised that drug treatments should not be given to patients in the early and late stages of Alzheimer's - a decision the Alzheimer's Society is due to challenge in court.

To show the effect of shortfalls of public money to help sufferers, the Observer report highlights the case of George Russell, 73, and his wife Enid, 72. They have been married for more than 50 years, but for the past 11 years George has been Enid's carer.

It costs £39 for Enid to attend a day centre for a few hours three times a week - more hours aren't available - and £20 for a woman to bath Enid twice a week.

George said, "I don't think it's right. Enid worked all her life and has never been ill, so why should she pay now that she is sick?"

And he's absolutely right. But sadly we all know where billions of pounds every year that could help many people like George and Enid is going instead - completely without justification.

The question is: are MPs going to block sending yet more billions to the EU - by voting against the EU budget deal when it comes before Parliament? And ensure that money can be put to useful work tackling some of these problems instead?

Or are they going to ignore needs like this and reward the EU's twelve years of audit failure with a 60% increase in payments?

GP surgeries 'bursting at seams'

Three-quarters of GP practices are "bursting at the seams" and will soon be unsuitable for care, a survey says - according to the BBC.

Doctors said they did not have enough space to add any more services, with one surgery reporting it had used the staff room to administer vaccinations.

GPs said the snapshot poll of 251 surgeries by the British Medical Association cast doubt on plans to move care from hospitals to the community.

But ministers said the findings did not present the full picture. At the beginning of the year, the government unveiled plans to invest more in community NHS services in England.

They said GPs in the future would provide a whole range of extra services such as diabetes clinics and minor surgeries.

But doctors from across the UK told the BMA that the NHS's 11,000 practices risked not filling their potential because of a lack of funding.