NHS hospitals ‘failing to help 50% of Alzheimer’s sufferers’

Half of Alzheimer’s patients in the UK fail to respond well to treatment in NHS hospitals, it has been discovered.

Research undertaken by the Alzheimer’s Society has shown that one in three sufferers are sent to care homes after being admitted to hospital and never go back to their own houses.

Over three-quarters of respondents whose relatives have Alzheimer’s stated that they are unhappy with the level of care offered by NHS hospitals.

Conducted among relatives and NHS employees, the survey also showed that 47 per cent of dementia patients left hospital in a worse condition than when they first entered.

The Telegraph quotes Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, as saying: “We believe that the NHS is failing disgracefully on this. And it is creating very serious outcomes for people with dementia and their families.”

This news follows the revealing of government plans last week which proposed that all nurses should hold a degree before they can work for the NHS.