Dementia debacle continues

Campaigners from the Alzheimer's Society attacked the health body for confused policy-making, as NICE issued new guidelines on how to improve the care of people with dementia across the country on the same day as its decision to severely restrict access to Alzheimer's drug treatments because of cost came into force.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, says,

'By releasing these guidelines today NICE is trying to cynically cloak its flawed evaluation of Alzheimer's drug treatments. On the one hand the health body is moving to improve care and services for people with all types of dementia and with the other snatching away the only drugs that can provide them and their carers with a hugely improved quality of life. It's not about care or treatment; people with dementia have the right to both.

The Department of Health and NICE must end this debacle, before people with dementia start to suffer under NICE's confusing mess. It would be a tragedy if many of the positive recommendations made in today's guidelines are overshadowed by NICE's devastating decision on Alzheimer's drug treatments.'

Amidst the confusion over treatments for people with Alzheimer's disease, the expert panel on the Dementia Clinical Guidelines have made some positive recommendations for people with other types of dementia, including improving training for care staff and GPs.

For more information, contact Gayle Wing or Jessica Mangold, Alzheimer's Society press office.

• During the appeals against its decision on drug treatments NICE refused to budge on its rigid rules governing access to treatments. Yet in the separate Dementia Care Guidelines these rules are softened to allow clinicians to use their judgment to decide who is in the moderate stages and should be prescribed drugs.
• The Guidelines Development Group has publicly condemned the decision to severely restrict the use of Alzheimer's drug treatments. See http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=324234 NICE guidance will apply in England and Wales and could possibly be implemented in Northern Ireland.
• On Friday 17 November, one of the drug manufacturers announced that it will be seeking a Judicial Review against NICE's decision to restrict access to Alzheimer's drug treatments.
• The Alzheimer's Society is the UK's leading care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers.
• Over 750,000 people in the UK have dementia. More than half have Alzheimer's disease.
• Dementia affects one in 20 people over the age of 65 and one in five over the age of 80.
• There are 18,500 people in the UK under the age of 65 with dementia.
• For information and advice on Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia call the Alzheimer's Society national helpline on 0845 300 0336.
• Our website address is http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/.