This month, there’s been a lot of discussion of a new dementia-slowing drug which has been licenced, but isn’t at the moment to be made available on the NHS. Step by step, there do now seem to be grounds for optimism that it will be possible to halt some forms of dementia in their tracks in the future. Dementia still receives only a fraction of the funding that, for example, cancer does, yet it’s this country’s biggest killer; maybe the increased publicity about treatments might influence the thinking on future funding?

Of course, people can only receive treatment if they’ve been diagnosed, so it’s crucial that we increase the chances of diagnosis taking place and ensure that there is adequate provision of the services required to support that diagnosis. You may be interested to hear that The Butterfly Scheme has always been part of that movement.

Whilst some people arrive in hospital with a dementia diagnosis in place, large numbers of patients are admitted with symptoms of dementia, yet don’t have that diagnosis. I’ve always insisted that we distinguish in our record-keeping between people with a diagnosis and people who may need to be assessed for one; if we categorised everyone the same, even if their presentation was the same, we wouldn’t be providing clarity or progress.

If someone in a Butterfly Scheme hospital is identified as having dementia-like symptoms, what we do is provide exactly the same care as for those living with confirmed dementia, but we not only record it differently, but also take different administrative steps. When the patient is discharged, we don’t simply send them out no better off than they were when they were admitted, but instead we trigger onward investigation as part of the discharge process. When I first suggested that, all those years ago, I was told we’d break the system, because there weren’t enough investigative services available; my view is that if we don’t prove the need, those services won’t increase – and now that treatments are out there, people should surely expect to be guided towards them. 

We all need to be putting the infrastructure in place so that as more and more dementia-reducing drugs come onto the market, we’re able to identify those people who will most benefit and provide them with a complete diagnostic process. Thank you to all Butterfly Scheme teams who have solid systems in place and are doing all they can to facilitate this.