A new test could fast-track diagnosis of Dementia

Diagnosis times for dementia could be cut to a few weeks as a new test could fast-track diagnosis of Dementia.

The pilot project based in Sussex will use high tech memory tests and brain scans to spot the condition at a specialist clinic.

Currently, it can take months or perhaps even years for Alzheimer’s to be spotted and diagnosed via GP tests. And that is in order to get a specialist referral.

The newly announced pilot project based in Sussex will adopt and use a series of high tech memory tests and brain scans to spot the condition.

If all this proves successful, then it could see such 'high tech centres' rolled out nationwide to identify and spot dementia early on. So that patients can receive the right drugs and help when coping and dealing with the condition. GPs will also be given iPad apps in order to test a patient’s memory.

Additionally, a mobile diagnosis vehicle will also be trialled to provide dementia assessments outside local GP surgeries, so that people get the most up to date treatment on their doorstep. Apparently, there are more than 350,000 people currently living with undiagnosed dementia and who are left without any care or support.

It is estimated that by the year 2020 there will be almost 1 million people who have dementia. That is an increase of almost 50% based on the current level of 670,000.

This new pilot project is part of the Government backed “Biomedical Catalyst” that has been awarded to a number of businesses and universities to help find new ways of tackling health issues and problems.

Britain's biggest Care Home owners 'have £5 billion debts'

I read last week that Britain's biggest Care Home owners 'have £5 billion debts'

Some of the biggest private Care Home owners in the UK have combined debts of almost £5 billion.

And I read again days later, that this had led to concerns from residents families about the financial viability of the companies that are looking after literally thousands of elderly and disabled people.

This investigation established that the debts of 3 of the firms, which apparently own almost 800 homes, have been rated as risky by credit companies. This is over concerns on how they could pay off the money in a tough economic climate.

But forgive me if I sound a preacher, but I do recall the news last year about how care homes would now be forced to be more clear and transparent about all their finances. This of course was after the Southern Cross collapse and fallout.

Apparently this investigation was partly created by the NfP body Corporate Watch. So I ask myself, if it weren’t for this NfP body called Corporate Watch making the findings, how easy is it exactly for local authorities and resident’s families to get a clear, proper understanding and assessment of the underlying risks that some leading Care Home providers are facing. Because I can now see from this report that they have some pretty hefty loan arrangements.

This report also discovered that 5 of the Care Home firms are in fact owned by parent companies based in secretive offshore tax havens.

And of course within recent years there has been significant expansion of large private companies within this sector, whilst council-run Care Homes have decreased.

This is what others had to say on the subject:

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “It is absolutely essential that individuals have access to clear information about the strengths and liabilities of organisations looking after their mums and dads.

“The Government said it will legislate soon on social care and it is essential that it learns the lessons of Southern Cross, puts some stability into this market as the current high-rolling, high-risk economics we see is not compatible with the care of elderly people.”

Michelle Mitchell of Age UK said: “This is a major concern and we are calling on the Government to ensure that Monitor, the NHS Financial Regulator, is given a duty to assess the financial viability of care providers and, where necessary, the powers to ensure compliance.”

The Department of Health announced that a public consultation about financial regulation would begin soon.

True or not? The Willis Commission report says NHS patients get 'unacceptable' care from nursing assistants.

NHS patients are receiving an "unacceptable" level of care from unqualified healthcare assistants who are now responsible for nursing tasks in care homes, an independent commission reported.

Healthcare assistants are employed in order to carry out simple tasks such as keeping patients fed and hydrated and taking a temperature. But these healthcare assistants are not currently trained to identify and spot warning signs such as dehydration or changes in body heat.

The Willis Commission led by Lord Willis of Knaresborough, a Liberal Democrat peer, published these findings in the report in early November.

One of the report’s findings is that patients families do not always recognise the difference between nurses and unqualified healthcare staff and sometimes follow the advice of healthcare assistants without even realising they have no nursing expertise. The report also recommended that all healthcare assistants should be trained to at least NVQ level 3 in order to help deal with the issues and concerns on wards and in care homes.

The commission also announced in the report that it was unacceptable that staff whose competence is not regulated or monitored are caring for vulnerable citizens. And that it was equally unacceptable that registered nurses must take responsibility for supervising colleagues on whose competency they cannot rely. In 2011, the NHS in England employed more than 53,000 Healthcare Assistants, and numbers are increasing by 6% each year.

Figures released in October 2012 revealed that 43 hospital patients had starved to death and 11 died of thirst due to failures in the most basic levels of care on hospital wards, whilst 78 died from bedsores.

The report also calls for measures to improve the quality of placements undertaken by student nurses, and for newly qualified nurses to be given extra support during their first year.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Public confidence is really important, however in the case of healthcare assistants, there is no evidence that compulsory regulation would lead to higher standards.

"They are supervised by professionally qualified staff, and often by experienced nurses. Regulation does not, in itself, change culture and is no substitute for proper performance management, good leadership and day to day high quality patient care."

It was also announced that a code of conduct and minimum training standards for healthcare support workers will be drawn up and created by January 2013.

The UK’s army of unpaid carers are left isolated, depressed and physically exhausted.

A poll recently undertaken by the Carers Trust has revealed that almost 60% of adult carers reported suffering mental health problems due to the strain of caring and other responsibilities they had.

Just over 25% experienced both physical and mental health problems, with muscular strains, insomnia and exhaustion also common complaints they had. Almost 60% said caring had damaged their careers.

The findings, sourced from a YouGov poll of 500 adults, will add further pressure on the Government to provide universal access to support services for Britain's 6 million unpaid Carers. The survey also found that almost 66% had never accessed counselling, respite  or even welfare support.

More than 1.5 million carers are aged over 60, and are often relied upon to move or lift immobile people and bathe, clothe and medicate their sick relatives.

It is also expected that by the year 2037, the number of carers is expected to rise to 9 million as a result of our ever increasing aging population and as a result of better survival rates from medical conditions etc.

Carer numbers

6m: 1 in 8 adults (around 6 million people) are Carers; this is expected to rise to 9 million by 2037

58% of Carers are women and 42% are men

3m: More than 3 million people juggle care with work and 20% are forced to give up work

50: 1.25 million people provide more than 50 hours of care each week

The 5 expensive obstacles encountered when finding a Care Home place

Many people are being let down on elderly care, as there are 5 expensive obstacles when finding a Care Home place

People have to overcome 5 expensive obstacles when they need to find a place for a family loved one in a care home, according to a recent report by the charity Independent Age.

The warning from the charity comes amid growing concern over how long-term care is funded.

Independent Age warns that families are let down in the following ways:

·         The care home means test, which says that anyone with savings or a home worth more than £23,250 must pay all their own fees, currently averaging £524 a week. The report called this ‘the worst means test in the welfare state’.

·         A failure of councils to give any help or advice to the families of people with more than £23,250 in assets. This can lead to damaging and expensive mistakes in choosing a care home.

·         Top-up fees. Councils pay an average of £452 a week for care home places. People in care homes which charge more are asked for top-ups, often unlawfully because councils try to pay less than their legal duty. In some cases better-off families are asked to pay top-ups of more than £300 a week. In all 55,000 families are paying top-ups.

·         Different costs in different places. For example, one Council pays no more than £451 a week for care home bills. But another council will cover costs of £952.50. The varying policies mean families in the wrong place can end up paying hundreds of pounds a week more in top-ups.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families.

People whose fees are paid by the council are allowed to keep no more than £23.50 a week to pay for extras to brighten up their life in a care home. This is inadequate.

For many, the tiny allowance means they have to rely on families to pay for much of the cost of new clothes, hairdressing, books and magazines, dry cleaning, toiletries, dental care and spectacles, and even treats like sweets and chocolates.

Last year a report commissioned by David Cameron from economist Andrew Dilnot recommended that the care home means test threshold should be set at £100,000, and no one with less wealth should be made to pay their own fees.

It also said that there should be a cap on the amount that anyone should have to pay for their care, possibly set at £50,000. However the Prime Minister, has delayed making a decision on the report.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families and leaving many of them confused over how the system operates.

Elderly should be treated at home instead of hospital.

Elderly patients could be treated at home rather than in hospital.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said that doctors should only admit the most seriously ill patients who would benefit from the highest levels of care. These proposals were made in late 2011 and were made amid fears that elderly people were routinely being ignored on NHS wards

The plans were unveiled as part of the NHS’s Operating Framework, which sets out the Government’s plans for the health service during 2012.

In these plans he promised to make the elderly the NHS’s utmost priority following a series of reports exposing harrowing neglect in hospitals. In one study by the Care Quality Commission it revealed that 20% of NHS trusts were treating older patients so bad they were breaking the law.

And that half of these hospitals weren’t meeting basic nutritional standards, as staff did not do enough to ensure the elderly didn’t go hungry or thirsty.

The plans also focussed on dementia patients, as they are often neglected by nurses who do not realise their illness can leave them incapable of eating, drinking or going to the toilet. Additionally, every patient with dementia must be looked after by at least one doctor or nurse who is properly trained in treating the condition.

Mr Lansley said: ‘We must see improvements for people with dementia, particularly in the care they get in hospitals. It will often be in their best interests to be treated at home.

Downsizing fears haunt the over-50s who fear they must sell to cover cost of living

The over-50s are fearful they will have to sell their family home to cope with the soaring cost of living, research revealed as long ago as August 2011.

20% worried they would have to ‘downsize’ to generate enough cash to pay all their bills, according to a report I found from Saga in August last year. The report is conducted and generated every 3 months.

In this report hey feared that the rising price of everything from necessities such as energy and food to petrol, as well as increased taxes and historic low interest rates will squeeze them to the point that they will have to choice but to sell up.

Additionally, many over 50s said that they had to pay out more and more to help their cash-strapped children and grandchildren.

Dr Ros Altmann, of Saga, which specialises in providing services for the over-50s, said at the time: ‘People are being forced to do things that they would have never considered doing before.

‘It is impacting on their quality of life. Selling their home is not what they would have expected or wanted to do.’

In a separate survey, by HomeLet, found that the number of homeowners aged between 66 and 70 who sold their houses and became tenants instead increased by 30% last year.

The Saga report canvassed 11,650 over-50s about their financial situation and lifestyle. And it highlights that grandparents are making sacrifices in order to support their younger relatives in the tough economic times. Approximately 33% said that they are paying for everything from their child’s mortgage to the weekly food shop – even though they are struggling to make ends meet themselves.

Having worked all their lives to buy their family home, many can no longer afford to own one.

Saga suggested that there could be a ‘lost generation’, who cannot find work but also need money to live, and also face living longer than ever but with poorer incomes to do so.

Elderly care Postcode Lottery

David Cameron came under unprecedented pressure last night to transform provision of care for the elderly.

In an open letter, a coalition of 78 charities and campaign groups warned the Prime Minister that unless he acts, millions of pensioners will be condemned to a life of ‘misery and fear’.

They said that a postcode lottery of access to care is leaving many in ‘quiet desperation’, as huge care bills put them at risk of losing ‘their savings, their dignity, their independence’.

Under the current system, pensioners have to pay the cost of their own care if they have savings or assets worth more than £23,500.

Because of this tens of thousands of pensioners every year have to sell their house to fund the costs of their residential care. And many other pensioners have to make do with 15 minute home help visits, even though most need more assistance, as council services are now so under-funded due to Government cutbacks.

A White Paper on long-term care was published as recently as June this year, but it focussed on the quality of care provision, with the issue of paying for it assigned to an update ‘progress’ document. It is also expected that a new funding system will not be fully in place until 2025.

According to the letter, a total of 78 organisations including Age UK, Saga, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services have merged to write an open letter to the Prime Minister.

It read: ‘Social care is in crisis. The system is chronically under-funded and in urgent need of reform.

‘Without this, too many older and disabled people will be left in desperate circumstances: struggling on alone, living in misery and fear.’

The letter also warned that many years of failure to reform the system had had a ‘devastating impact’, not only on those in need of care, but also on their relatives, who can be forced to give up their jobs to look after a vulnerable family member.

Mr Cameron’s government commissioned economist Andrew Dilnot to write a report on the future funding of long-term care. In July 2011, Dilnot suggested a cap of £35,000-£50,000 on the amount that people have to pay for their care, with the state stepping in to cover the remaining shortfall. Additionally, Financial services firms could offer insurance schemes to reduce the burden further.

The Coalition government commissioned economist Andrew Dilnot to write the report, but the Treasury insisted there was not enough money to pay for his proposals. Mr Dilnot also said no one should be asked to pay for care if they have less than £100,000 in their savings and assets. At present the cut-off is as little as £23,500. Andrew Dilnot also wanted a fairer system in place by the year 2015, but it is believed that this might take even a decade longer.

It is estimated that at least 20,000 pensioners have to sell their home each year to meet their care costs. It is also believed that even under any future system that is put in place, the elderly may still have to consider releasing equity in their homes or downsizing to release funds for their care costs.

The open letter, which has been signed by charities, trade unions and local government organisations, was organised by the Care and Support Alliance.

Coalition Government asks Town Halls to back plan to help older homeowners to downsize

The Coalition Government is continuing with controversial plans to encourage older homeowners who may be struggling to maintain their home to move into smaller properties. The scheme is being proposed as an alternative option to equity release products.

The local authority would then let the former home to a family that needs more room and space. The council would take on the letting responsibility for maintaining the pensioner’s former home. The rent received from the property would be used to cover the costs of the owner renting a smaller home, with any possible surplus achieved added to their estate after death.

Some pensioners currently use the proceeds of equity release to help with the costs of heating and maintaining their existing home.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said at the time that the local councils should be more active in offering assistance to those wanting to move into smaller properties or sheltered housing.

Grant Shapps said: ‘Older people, who should be enjoying their homes, have watched helplessly as their properties have become prisons.’

But there are fears that pensioners living in a 2-3 bedroom property may feel under pressure to give up what has been their family home throughout the decades.

Trade body SHIP said: ‘There are likely to be huge costs and high levels of administrative work attached to the scheme. And it begs the question of how many older people will choose to leave their family homes and move into a smaller property potentially away from family and friends.’

Is the Care home business too important to fail?

Within recent years Private Equity has been attracted to Care homes. As we all know from watching the news, Blackstone made a £600million profit from Southern Cross by floating the company on the stock market. However, Southern Cross then fell into administration as landlords increased their property rents to the point whereby the business was no longer viable without significant company restructuring.

Yet only a short while afterwards we read that Four Seasons has been sold to Terra Firma, another private equity fund. This deal according to news reports was being financed by £525million of new high yield bonds.

So with this being the case, how do the Private Equity companies make their profits? Well I guess like any company would.

Either by cutting their current costs, or make those who are already paying the bills such as the elderly residents, local authorities or the families of those in care pay more. If it’s the local authorities who are told to pay more, then it will be a challenge to persuade local government to pay even more at times of recession and Government cutbacks to their Social Care budget.

And all this accompanied by the morale of already lowly paid staff is unlikely to be improved by another display of Private Equity ownership of another of our Care Home providers.

Britain is the Mobility Scooter Capital of Europe

300,000 on our roads and streets as obesity and number of pensioners soar.

According to the British Healthcare Trades Association only 5 years ago there were only 70,000 Mobility Scooters being used in the UK, the numbers today are closer to 300,000. And so as report suggest Britain now has more mobility scooters than anywhere else in Europe. In fact there afre more Mobility Scooters here in the UK than in Holland, where the vehicles are even subject to road traffic laws because so many of their elderly use them as a replacement for cycling. 

Another reason for this steady increase here in the UK is the rise in our obesity levels. However on the other hand, some people are using Mobility Scooters as they suffer with conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis as sometimes sufferers can walk distance, but on other days they are unable to move.

And The Department for Transport has to rely on the British Healthcare Trades Association’s estimates because no official figures are sourced by Government.

It is technically illegal to drive a Mobility Scooter without a disability but experts believe clearer regulations are needed.

Do you need a Mobility Scooter? If so, here are a few interesting facts:

• Anyone over the age of 14 years can buy the fastest class of scooter with no requirement for a licence, training or insurance to drive it.
• Mobility scooters are battery powered and limited to a maximum 8mph, although some are capable of travelling at speeds of 15mph.
• Unlike cars, mobility scooters are not subject to official safety checks, and can be sold without any training being given.
• Although not classed as a motor vehicle, it is illegal in the UK to drive a Mobility Scooter when over the drink-drive limit.
• Driving a scooter while disqualified can lead to a prison sentence.

Demand is so high that at a trade fair in June this year in Peterborough http://www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk/ companies turned up to exhibit their various Mobility Scooter models.

Typically a Mobility Scooter is restricted by law to a speed limit of 8mph but can go faster. With Mobility Scooter designs now capable of carrying people weighing as much as 40stone. 

Some Police Constabularies have organised Mobility Scooter Driver awareness courses, as in some towns almost a third of the population is of retirement age. And Ppensioners are put through their paces on an obstacle course of crossings, traffic lights and cones.

One type of Mobility Scooter is a pavement one restricted to just 4mph and then there is a second category of Mobility Scooter which goes up to 8mph and can be ridden on the road.

You are breaking the law if you are driving an 8mph scooter at that speed on the pavement.

                 

Only the elderly with £100,000 in assets should pay their Care home fees

No family should be forced to dip into their life savings to pay for care in their old age if their assets are ever below £100,000 campaigners announced in a mass rally at Parliament in March this year.

Currently anyone with assets of more than £23,250 must pay for their residential care costs – thus making thousands of elderly have to sell their homes.

Age UK is calling for this means-test level to be increased to £100,000 allowing pensioners who have saved long and hard to protect their homes and pass on an inheritance to their children and family.

The rally was organised by the Care and Support Alliance, which represents more than 60 charities and organisations.

Put simply, people are living longer, both with illness and disability, yet social care budgets across England fell by an estimated £1billion in 2011.

Fortunately Age UK is raising the specific issue of the means test for residential care fees, which means people have to continue dipping into their life savings until they havejust £23,250 remaining. Age UK wants the limit to be increased to £100,000. At least 20,000 pensioners a year sell their homes to pay for their care home fees.

Dr Ros Altmann, director general of over-50s organisation Saga, recently said: “The lives of millions of older people and the future of the NHS is at stake.

“Politicians in all parties have a historic opportunity to change the way care is funded in future, to help people stay in their own homes if they can, which is what they overwhelmingly want, and to save money for the NHS by caring for them outside the most expensive hospital settings.”

Elderly people in England currently receive free care if they have savings of less than £13,000. Above that, they have to contribute to the cost of help with washing, dressing or eating. Anyone with savings of £23,250 must pay the full cost and many have had to sell their homes.

Scotland provides free personal care for over-65s but it does not cover housework or shopping.

Care home providers continue to charge residents their Care Home fees even when in hospital.

Care home residents who are sick and unwell are being deprived of approximately £700.00 per week (or whatever their Care Home fees are) for rooms and services they do not use as they are unwell in hospital.

Elderly people are being charged for their board, food, laundry, energy usage and their daily nursing even though they never receive it as they are in hospital — allowing Care home providers to take the money and bank it normally and add to their profits.

According to recent figures there are in excess of 400,000 Care home residents in the UK. Official NHS figures show that more than 5 million who are 65+ were admitted to hospital during 2011, and spent an average of 10 days bed-ridden. Figures also say that 80,000 stayed longer than a month.

These figures do not show how many of these were care home residents.

Care home providers do not have to give their residents any refund, even when spend weeks in hospital, the fees continue to be charged. And even if care home residents do ask for a refund, it is often not granted or approved.

The charity Age UK suggests you seek advice from the care home management if you are in hospital for a long time, as it’s all down to their discretion. And recent reports say that elderly people had to pay as much as £8.7 billion from their life savings to pay for care last year (2011) — £380 million more than in 2010, again this is according to the charity Age UK.

A government-commissioned study found 1 in 10 OAPs in care spends more than £100,000 in fees. Care Home bills are allowed to increase because the state only offers funding to those with less than £23,500 in savings or even equity in the home they own and have lived in nearly all their life.

In a very short period the £37,000 a year average nursing home fees can quickly drain a pensioner’s life savings, and approximately 20,000 people each year are forced to sell their house. And this is expected to only continue. Private care spending is expected to increase yet again and rise another £2.2 billion a year by 2015.

When care home residents do sadly have to go into hospital, most do not expect a full refund for their fees. They understand that their rent still needs to be paid, as well as a service charge. But many care homes still demand residents pay the full cost, including meals etc.

The care home providers say that even if the residents are hospitalised they still continue to face significant fixed costs, such as staffing and energy, even if a room is empty.

As of early 2012, Care home providers such as Bupa who run 300 care homes, have no official fee policy on hospitalisation, but make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. However, the reduction is small.

And industry experts warn the situation will only worsen as the population ages. Life expectancy for those reaching pensionable age hit 84 this year (2012), with the over-65s set to shoot past 16 million over the next 20-30 years.

Will you leave your legacy to help a charity to do something rewarding?

I guess only people like Richard Branson can afford to leave 10% of their wealth to charity.

And under new rules that effectively came into force on April 6^th 2012, anyone who decides to leave 10% of their estate to charity will now pay 10% less Inheritance Tax — so this means 36% instead of 40% — on the remainder of their money. This is why it makes writing a will sense for everyone to do.

And with 66% of people (2 in 3) without a will, many of the half a million UK residents dying every year are in danger of leaving their spouses, partners and children inadequately looked after.

In some cases, with no planning, a relative or loved one can die and their money will end up as an unnecessary windfall for the UK taxman.

November is Will Aid month, and some 1,400 solicitors nationwide are waiving their fee for writing a will in return for a donation to charity. Suggested donations are £85.00 for a single will, £120.00 for a pair of basic mirror wills — typically near-identical wills for a husband and wife — and £40.00 for a codicil amending or adding to an existing will.

You’d normally pay on average around £120.00 for a single will and £200.00 for a pair of mirror wills.

Although it may seem unpleasant, writing a will simply sets out who gets what of your assets — and lets you arrange your estate (as your belongings become known on death) in the most tax-efficient way. Everybody has an Inheritance Tax ‘nil rate’ limit of £325,000. Leave less than this and your family or beneficiaries will not have to pay any tax on your legacy, but if your estate is worth more than the threshold, then they will have to pay 40% on anything above this unless you give 10% to charity.

Critically, the charitable donation is deducted before the tax is calculated, reducing the overall amount on which to pay tax even further. 

However, this £325,000 limit can be transferred between spouses. So any part of a spouse’s exemption up to £325,000 can be transferred on the second death, provided the taxman is informed within 24 months and the death occurred on or after October 9, 2007 — giving an exemption of up to £650,000.

If you don’t make a will, your estate is governed by strict intestacy laws. Contrary to popular belief that your spouse or civil partner gets everything, they will receive only the first £250,000, plus your personal belongings.

The rest will be divided into 2 with the children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren getting half — and the other half being held in trust. Here, the income from the trust goes to the surviving spouse or civil partner and the capital goes to the children, grandchildren or great grandchildren upon death.

If there are no children, grandchildren or great grandchildren, then the first £450,000 of the estate — plus personal possessions — goes to the spouse or civil partner and the remainder to either the deceased’s parents or, if they are dead, siblings or nieces and nephews. If you are not married, your partner will get nothing.

Mistakes and illegible writing can cause problems upon will execution — and use a solicitor to make sure the will is drawn up properly. So ideally avoid DIY will-writing kits.

To find a Will Writer taking part in Will Aid week, then telephone : 0300 0300 013 or visit www.willaid.org.uk

Remember A Charity Week, is the annual awareness campaign designed to encourage everyone to include good causes in their will.

Charity shops also use the week to remind shoppers about the financial benefits of legacies. They do not attract tax and are paid before an estate is valued for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Remember A Charity was formed 12 years ago in 2000 and now has more than 150 charities on board. Legacy income is worth almost £2billion a year to these organisations, but as we speak currently less than 10% of estates leave legacies.

You can get more information about leaving legacies in a will by visiting www.rememberacharity.org.uk  or by calling Tel No:  0207 840 1030

Patients not checked for Malnutrition

2 out of 3 hospital patients are not being checked for signs of malnutrition, alarming figures have revealed.

The largest survey carried out by the Patients Association into malnutrition in hospitals and the community also found most carers are not keeping track of nutrition problems among the old – or even weighing them.

Health Service guidelines say all patients going into hospital and all outpatients should be questioned about their weight and diet, as well as all those going into care homes.

The scandal of elderly hospital patients dying of neglect was laid bare earlier last year when official figures revealed dehydration contributed to the deaths of 800 people a year, with malnutrition accounting for a further 284.

But a major survey of 5,000 adults in England, Scotland and Wales commissioned by the Patients Association shows little has changed, even though it is supposed to be a key priority for the NHS.

Altogether 69% of hospital inpatients did not recall being screened for malnutrition on admission. This could mean fewer than one in three are being checked.

Worryingly, the survey found even less action being taken by carers – who are ideally placed to check on the weight of those they are caring for.

More than half of 1,800 carers taking part in the survey had concerns about the weight of someone they looked after but only 8% had used formal assessment methods to check for malnutrition. Just 1 in 6 had ever weighed a person they were looking after.

Among 1,500 people with close friends or relatives in a residential care home, 66% were unaware how often their diet and weight was monitored.

The Patients Association report – Patients' Understanding of Nutrition – says it is 'alarming' that so few are being checked when staff should be following the screening guideline issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The Patients Association has long been campaigningfor all patients to be weighed and screened for malnutrition on admission.

If screening does not take place, malnutrition remains unidentified and untreated which results in increased complications, longer hospital stays and even death. Hospitals have all the evidence, guidance and training materials they need.

NICE guidance states that the NHS should screen all inpatients, when admitted to hospital and at weekly intervals. Care homes should screen for malnutrition upon admission and whenever there is cause for concern.

Still worried that you are getting forgetful with age?

50% of those with mild cognitive impairment will carry on living healthily – in fact, a quarter may see their memory improve.

Neurologists are beginning to put a great deal of work into answering this question. They are concentrating on the medical condition that characterises the grey area between forgetfulness and disease — mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Experts define this as having problems with memory that are severe enough to be noticeable to the affected person or to others, but not serious enough to interfere with their daily life.

In studies, this condition has been found to affect up to 20% of people in their mid-60s. It can begin in people in their 40s and 50s, though the numbers affected are much smaller.

In fact one US study reports that the first signs of memory problems most commonly start to appear in the early 50s. The reason scientists are interested in mild cognitive impairment is that it’s recognised as a warning that a person’s brain is potentially deteriorating in a serious way.

As surveys found on a global scale that people diagnosed with it, have a significantly raised risk of premature death. This is because around half the people who have mild cognitive impairment will go on to develop Dementia.

One of the serious problems with diagnosing and treating mild cognitive impairment(MCI) is that it is often similar to normal age-related memory loss — however, the memory problems it causes are somewhat more frequent and intense.

Simple daily forgetfulness, such as forgetting where you have left your keys, does not seem to indicate problems with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).  But more profound memory lapses are more of a red flag warning sign, such as experiencing trouble finding your way around familiar streets and places.

As well as memory problems, people in danger of Dementia may have other symptoms, such as difficulty in finding the right words for something or problems seeing the reality of a situation.

In the UK, GPs can offer a test to help determine whether someone has mild cognitive impairment (MCI).  This test involves 30 questions, ranging from asking the day of the week and date, to spelling, counting backwards and recalling sets of words.

Other options are drugs to help people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Currently there are no treatments to cure Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, there is hope of a cure for vascular dementia — the second most common type, which is linked to the health of the blood vessels of the heart.

Vascular dementia is caused by brain tissue being damaged or destroyed by insufficient oxygen reaching the brain — and it tends to be preceded by mild cognitive impairment. In some cases, mild cognitive impairment may be the first sign that a person’s brain is lacking oxygen.

There is some evidence that managing blood pressure and cholesterol levels can help to slow down or prevent people developing Vascular Dementia.

According to other research, it reads that in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) the hippocampus — a part of the brain essential for memory — tries to overcompensate for its diminishing powers by becoming overactive. This in turn creates confusion in the brain.

Prevention is the best strategy for avoiding mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and helping stop it progressing into Dementia.  Exercise is the best defence as studies have shown that walking 6 or more miles each week can have huge reward.  Regular medical check-ups also help and are recommended.

According to some medical and health websites, it is also sensible that people known to be at risk get their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked, and be tested for diabetes, which is also a strong risk factor. Poorly controlled diabetics have a high risk of developing vascular dementia.

Alzheimer's blood test moves closer - and could detect warning signs a decade earlier

Scientists have hopefully developed a screening technique that detects levels of the harmful proteins that build up in the brain, causing memory loss and confusion in Dementia sufferers. If the test proves accurate in larger studies, it could offer a method to identify which people experiencing memory problems are at greater risk of developing the Alzheimer’s. Brain scans can show Alzheimer’s disease ‘plaques’ – which are sticky clumps of a protein called “beta amyloid” – a decade before they cause memory and thinking problems. However, the scans are too expensive and impractical for routine use.

The new blood test, developed at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, measures for 9 biological markers of the plaques. The test performed well In a study of more than 1,100 people.

They first used blood samples from 273 people to identify 9 hormones and proteins that appeared to predict amyloid levels in the brain. A cut-off level was then set for what was considered high. With the thinking that people above that point will then go on to develop Alzheimer’s , with the time between onset being about 8-10 years.

When researchers used the 9 marker blood test on the same blood test, it correctly identified 83% of people with high amyloid levels and correctly ruled out 85%of people without Alzheimers.

The test was then trialled successfully on nearly 900 more blood samples. This blood test has been patented and the owners are talking with numerous companies about making it commercially available. Around 800,000 suffer from forms of dementia in the UK, with the number of cases expected to double within a generation.

NHS should screen over-75s for Dementia as many miss out on treatment that slows disease

Dementia causes distressing memory lapses and confusion and may lead to mood swings in later stages.

The NHS should routinely screen all over-75s for signs of dementia says The Alzheimer's Society as fewer than half of the estimated 750,000 dementia sufferers receive a diagnosis.  This means hundreds of thousands are missing out on treatment, care and support, including new medications that can slow the development of the condition.

However, it is believed that screening may increase anxiety, whilst placing an additional cost burden on NHS resources.

According to research by The Alzheimer's Society there are 750,000 people with dementia in the UK and this will rise to more than 1 million by 2021.

60% with Dementia are ‘never diagnosed’

60% with Dementia are ‘never diagnosed’

Doctors fail to spot dementia in 60% of sufferers, according to figures released late last year in September 2011.

This means thousands of elderly people are not given a diagnosis and so are left to cope with the condition without treatment or help from carers.

Apparently the reason for this is because some doctors are not diagnosing dementia as they feel it is part of growing old.

Research by the Alzheimer’s Society estimates that 766,000 people in Britain, have some form of Dementia.

But on average only 311,000 are diagnosed with the condition, meaning some 400,000+ sufferers are left without any help to tackle the condition.

Currently there is no cure for Dementia, however there are drugs to help treat some of the symptoms including mood swings, confusion and depression.

Additionally experts say that early diagnosis and treatment can significantly enhance a patients’ quality of life and delay the need for care home relocation.

An early diagnosis is essential for access to medication and to give patients and their families help and support.

Separate figures show earlier diagnosis could save the NHS nearly £3billion as patients would spend less time in hospital and care homes.

A report by the charities group Alzheimer’s Disease International, written by researchers at King’s College London, estimates that spotting the disease sooner would save up to £6,125 per sufferer.

If this was multiplied by every sufferer who hasn’t been diagnosed in Britain, it comes to nearly £2.8billion.

Experts say many patients with Dementia that hasn’t been diagnosed who are admitted to hospital for minor illnesses stay on wards far longer than other patients because of problems associated with their condition and many are then placed in care homes.

Exercise gets the heart pumping and cuts your Dementia risk

Any exercise that gets the heart pumping may reduce the risk of Dementia and slow the condition's progression once it starts, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in September 2011 by the Mayo Clinic.

Researchers examined the role of aerobic exercise in preserving cognitive abilities and concluded that it should not be overlooked as an important therapy against Dementia.

Examples include walking, gym workouts and activities at home such as shovelling or raking leaves.

Mayo Clinic concluded that you can make a very compelling argument for exercise as a disease-modifying strategy to prevent Dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and for favourably modifying these processes once they have developed.

The researchers note that brain imaging studies have consistently revealed objective evidence of favourable effects of exercise on the human brain.

More research is needed on the relationship between exercise and cognitive function, the study's authors say, but they encourage exercise, in general, especially for those with or worried about cognitive issues.

Changes in your lifestyle could help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimers

Half of all Alzheimers disease cases could possibly be prevented by lifestyle changes such as exercise, eating healthily and not smoking.

They say hundreds of thousands of patients could potentially avoid the hard hitting illness simply by changing their bad habits. 

Around 820,000 people in the UK suffer from Dementia, of which half have Alzheimers, and this is expected to rise to 1 million within the next 10 years. All factors thought to contribute to the disease is lack of exercise, smoking and obesity. With an inactive lifestyle being the most important possible cause, and obesity in middle-age, high blood pressure and diabetes all increasing the risk of getting the disease.

The Alzheimers Society has predicted that by 2021 there will be more than 1 million British people living with dementia and this is expected to rise to 1.7million by 2050. The numbers are expected to soar as more people live until their 80s and 90s, when they are at highest risk.

Therefore given this research the disease may be partly caused by unhealthy diets, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol as they cause damage to blood vessels in the brain, leading to death of brain cells. So exercise, eating well and not smoking is the advice for looking after yourself in later life.

Bake a cake or do some gardening to help delay Alzheimers.

As you would expect given that I work in the Mobility Aids sector, I take an active interest in reading about all the Health issues that the elderly face. After all, one day I will also be elderly and in need of various types of support and help – not just Mobility Aids.

Apparently, according to new research conducted by a UK university, there are steps you can take in order to help reduce your chances of developing Alzheimer’s.  Such as baking a cake or even doing some light gardening.

Gardening, cooking and group discussions could help reduce the ongoing progress and development of dementia, according to this research.

The research reports that doing structured activities with others has shown to improve a sufferers’ memory and quality of life. This follows the analysis of 15 studies of elderly people with mild to moderate Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Approximately 50% of the 700 participants received Cognitive Stimulation Treatment (CST), which involved the participants in activities several times each week in groups of 4-5. These patients scored higher in memory tests than those visited by home helps or given medication or physical therapy, with the benefits lasting for up to 3 months after treatment had been completed.

The recipients of Cognitive Stimulation Treatment and their carers also noted improvements in their communication skills and general wellbeing.

Professor Bob Woods of Bangor University undertook the review, and said the findings were ‘the most consistent yet’ in favour of psychological treatments for Dementia.

Professor Woods also said that Cognitive Stimulation Treatment differs from simple ‘brain training’, such as doing puzzles. And announced that further work would focus on whether Cognitive Stimulation Treatment could be carried out by family members, rather than carers, on a one-to-one basis.

How to Improve your Memory

I alike many others can sometimes forget where I put things. And so after tiring, and spending too much time searching for my keys I Googled for help.

How to Improve your Memory

So if you are ALWAYS losing your keys? With the right techniques it is possible to improve your memory.

These are the rules to follow:

ROUTINE: Always put the most easily lost items in the same place. Part of the problem with memory is that we are not paying enough attention, because we are doing too many things at once.

REHEARSAL: Then repeatedly say ‘I have put them on the shelf’ or wherever you have put them. To reinforce this.

Context is also vital for storing and triggering your memories. When it comes to names, try to think of someone else you know called that name such as a famous person or a song with that name in it. The association will help you to remember. Avoid multi-tasking; if you don’t properly process what is going on the information won’t be logged in your long-term memory and you won’t have sufficient clues to access and retrieve it.

What does my friends elderly Mum need? TLC of course.

Just because you put your Mum in a care home doesn’t mean you are uncaring or nasty. Alike lots of people, sometimes they just have no choice whatsoever. As my mum’s friend who is now well into her 80s has needed an ever increasing level of care.

Initially the routine was easy, as my friend said that her carers would be able let themselves in the front door 2-3 times a day. And then, a full-time nurse was recruited, to provide live in care for her throughout the day. As time passed, they then needed an extra person to come 2 times a day to help the nurse get his Mum both in and out of her bed.  And my friends pain was made worse as him Mum insisted that she should stay in her own home. But this was all very daunting and tiring for them. But his Mum insisted, and right through to today this is where she still lives.

Why? Because that is what she wants, as this is where she has spent all her life. And why I help and provide him with all those things he needs to keep her in her home.

The double bed she slept in and wanted to stay in was moved downstairs.

Her furniture was either moved from her rooms to make it easier to get around without falling over it. And some special chairs and a rollator introduced so she can get around and into the kitchen if needed.

So with effort and friends help, an elderly person can stay in their own homes. She has a carer who ensures his mum drinks enough water, and who out of the kindness of her heart will remember birthdays and even helps decorate her Christmas tree. Such people are hard to find.

And he is lucky enough to live nearby to her and so can keep a close eye on her and visit regularly. Not everyone is so lucky. But any talk of moving his mum into a care home is quickly binned. And the concerns of expensive care costs, red tape and funding to negotiate to put them off.

And his mum insists that she would rather die than live away from her home and not the way she currently does. In fact, he thinks that this probably keeps her alive, the fact she is still living at home, rather than in a care home she would hate.

This is the first time where we as middle-aged or older adults, are left to deal with having to look after our parents (I also do this, and share some of my friends experiences).

So ask yourself, would you rather spend the money on care homes or would you rather share the burden of providing care to your parents (as hard as it is)? It’s a hard call, but one that my friend is happy to make, with my help (and I don’t just mean Mobility Aids, I mean the furniture moving etc etc) and I always will. I’d like to think that someday, someone will do it for me – fingers crossed.

Care watchdog accused of worrying more for itself than their patients say MPs

It was reported earlier this year, that the Commons Public Accounts Committee believes the care watchdog (The Care Quality Commission) is more worried about its own reputation rather than the safety of vulnerable patients.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee accused the Care Quality Commission of attempting to silence its staff to prevent them from releasing crucial information about the organisational shortcomings.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said that the watchdog had persistently ‘let patients down’ by failing to inspect hospitals and nursing homes to ensure they are safe, the MPs warned in a report.

The commission has been under pressure since May 2011, when it was reported that it had ignored the abuse of adults with learning difficulties at the Winterbourne View care home near Bristol.

This latest report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee warns of ‘serious concerns’ about the CQC’s ‘governance, culture and leadership’.

Margaret Hodge MP, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said at the time: ‘This is a story of failure that goes right to the top of the organisation. The former chief executive has moved on but it is too soon to tell what difference that has made.’ She added: ‘The CQC completed less than half its target number of inspections.