GPs to be paid £55 for each dementia diagnosis

[Ripmax]

[QUOTE]Family doctors in England are to be paid £55 every time they diagnose a case of dementia, NHS England has said.

NHS chiefs said the aim was to increase the number of sufferers who receive treatment for the condition, which causes a decline in brain function.

But the Patients Association called it "a step too far" that would mean a "bounty on the head" of some patients.

Fewer than half of the 800,000 people in the UK who are estimated to have dementia have been formally diagnosed.

Dementia is an umbrella term used for a collection of symptoms resulting from a number of different diseases of the brain.

There are many types but all tend to affect brain function and cause problems with memory, mental agility, language skills, and the ability to carry out everyday tasks.

Under the scheme, doctors would receive the money for every extra patient given a diagnosis of dementia over a six-month period.

NHS England said it was "not just payment for diagnosis" and GP practices would have to form a detailed plan and show improving diagnosis rates.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29718618[/url]

[Download]

I would be worried that people without dementia would be wrongly diagnosed in a quest to make money.

[Midas22]

Great, more strain. Lets pay doctors even more money for something they should already be doing.

[zakededodead]

This is great I'm sure it'll work as great as arrest quotas

[catbarf]

[QUOTE=download;46300710]I would be worried that people without dementia would be wrongly diagnosed in a quest to make money.[/QUOTE]

You're seriously worried that 55 quid would be enough to tempt a doctor to make a false diagnosis that would open them up to possible legal and professional damage? If it were a thousand or something I could see that but this is a pittance, not to mention the article [i]explicitly states[/i] that it's also contingent on the doctor showing a detailed treatment plan and positive results.

[Comrade_Eko]

Holy crap time to get my MD and move to UK! 18,182 demented patients later I'd be a millionaire!

[bravehat]

Yeah that's great, keep throwing up incentives for them doing something they should be doing already, based on the fact, they're supposed to give a diagnosis.

So effectively they're now just getting paid extra to do what they're already supposed to be doing. Fucking, genius.