17.04.15
Cash for diagnosis leads to 25% hike in dementia cases
Newly released figures show that the controversial ‘cash for diagnosis’ scheme has led to a 25% rise in the number of dementia cases.
David Cameron led the charge to introduce the £55 payment for GP practices for each diagnosis of dementia, as part of the prime minister’s Dementia Challenge to help improve diagnosis rates.
The data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that the number of patients with a record of dementia on the QOF register went up from 336,445 at the end of September - when the scheme was introduced - to a total of at least 415,964 at the end of March this year.
NHS England has now revised the way it calculates dementia prevalence resulting in a new estimate of 659,000 dementia sufferers.
This puts the number of those diagnosed at 63%, just short of the national target of having 67% diagnosed by 2015.
A surge in diagnosis was recorded after the implementation of the policy offering GP surgeries £55 for each diagnosis. In March alone, the final month of the incentive scheme, there was an increase of 23,000 patients, a 6% hike.
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