An expert
review, commissioned by government ministers, and led by Professor Sube Banerjee of King's College London, has revealed that psychotic drugs are being widely over-used for people with dementia. About 180,000 patients are given these drugs to manage aggression and the review reports that their use is linked to the death of 1,800 people. Antipsychotics have a serious number of side-effects for people with dementia and a profound effect on people's quality of life, leaving them heavily sedated. They double the risk of death, triple the risk of stroke and accelerate cognitive decline.
The government has agreed to take steps to reduce the use of psychotic drugs. Professor Banerjee accepted that the drugs had to be used in some cases but said that they should only be used for a maximum of three months, and when the person represented a risk to themselves or others. He said that health and social care services needed to develop a "different mindset".
Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said the long-awaited review was a welcome recognition of the scale of the problem. He added: "This goes beyond quality of care. It is a fundamental rights issue. "Our members tell us of enormous worry and distress over what is happening to their loved ones."
The Royal College of GPs - in most cases the drugs are prescribed by family doctors - admitted the situation was "unacceptable".
Lawyers in the human rights team at Leigh Day have represented many people who have received inappropriate care and treatment, including people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Frances Swaine, partner and head of the human rights department at Leigh Day & Co was asked to give evidence to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics earlier this year. The Council has published a report, Dementia: ethical issues which looks at the ethical problems faced by those providing support and care for people with dementia and the problems of how to decide what is in the best interests of someone with dementia.
She said of the latest review:
"Professor Bannerjee's investigation and subsequent report confirms what we have known from our client families for some time. That is, that dementia sufferers are prescribed inappropriate drugs for the wrong reasons, leading to personality change and suffering which is quite avoidable, often rendering the individual unrecognisable to their family, at a time that is of crucial importance because of the changes that dementia brings in any event. We very much welcome the recommendations of the report and hope action will be taken as soon as possible to reduce the unnecessary prescription of anti-psychotic drugs to those with dementia."
In further news the Alzheimer's Society has revealed that half of all dementia patients leave hospital in worse health than when they arrive. Patients with dementia stay in hospital far longer that other patients and currently occupy some 25% of hospital beds. The Alzheimer's Society is calling for hospital visits to be cut by a week and says there is a need for better clinical leadership, training of nurses to deal with dementia patients and better co-ordination of support services to allow the patient to come out of hospital.
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