People with dementia are staying far longer in hospital than people without the condition that go in for the same treatment at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to the NHS.
Dementia care in hospitals criticised
Based on research involving 2,400 people, “Counting the cost: caring for people with dementia on hospital wards” reveals large, costly variations in the quality of care for people with dementia. Poor hospital care also had a negative impact on the people’s dementia and physical health. The majority of people with dementia leave hospital worse than when they arrive and a third enter a care home, unable to return home. The Alzheimer’s Society is calling for all hospitals to reduce the average length of stay for a person with dementia by at least a week. The charity is also supporting calls from nurses to be equipped with the right training and tools to do the job. Nurses told Alzheimer’s Society that they want more access to specialist advice and help. Some 97% of nurses work with people with dementia yet 80% do not receive any or enough dementia training. In addition, 89% of nurses said they found working with people with dementia very or quite challenging. Neil Hunt, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It is shocking that people with dementia are occupying up to a quarter of hospital beds yet there are scandalous variations in quality of dementia care in hospitals. A million more people will develop dementia in the next ten years. The NHS needs to start taking dementia seriously. “At least £80 million a year and probably hundreds of millions could be saved if people with dementia are enabled to leave hospital one week earlier. Hospitals must commit to reducing the length of stay if we are to stop people with dementia deteriorating in hospital and lessen the chance of people being discharged to a care home.”
