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The NHS is providing a second-class service to thousands of North East people with dementia who live in care homes, according to a damning report.

And the authors of it also claimed that some being charged up to £36,000 a year by GPs for services they should get free on the health service. This is money that could be better spent on one-to-one care on dementia patients according to the investigation by the Alzheimer’s Society.

It said almost half of care home managers feel the NHS isn’t providing residents with dementia adequate and timely access to vital services like physiotherapy, continence and mental health services.

This has led to instances where people have been left bed-bound, incontinent and sedated because the health service is too slow in responding to their needs.

There are 280,000 dementia sufferers in British care homes. For the report, a survey of over 285 care home managers in England was conducted jointly by Alzheimer’s Society and Care England.

They claimed they found one in five care homes surveyed are being wrongly charged by GP practices for services that should be free on the NHS.

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The total cost of GP charges to care homes is estimated to exceed £26m a year. The average charge of £12,191 a year.

Hazel Bayley of the Alzheimer’s Society said: “This money could be much better spent on one-to-one care for people with dementia, so we are committed to making sure this practice does not happen anywhere.”

Meanwhile Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “Sadly, this charging has been going on for far too long.

“We have called for years for this practice to be put to a stop, and for care homes and residents with dementia to be more visible and equal in the eyes of the health service.

“As the Health Select Committee has recently recommended, access to primary care must be improved. Older people living with dementia in care homes have the same rights to primary care, health and support as any other citizen, and the government and NHS must act to ensure that these services are available to everyone when they are needed.”

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Responding to the report, Dr Richard Vautrey, BMA GP committee deputy chair, said: “All GP practices provide comprehensive services free of charge to patients in care homes. A very small number of practices receive extra payments from nursing homes in order to cover the costs of providing additional services, over and above routine care, such as regular ward rounds or assistance with staff training.

“Care homes have faced significant cuts to their resources, and many have tried to cut costs by reducing the number of skilled nurses they employ. At the same time the complexity of patient care in care homes has dramatically increased. This has led to increasing pressure on already overstretched GP services, with GPs across the country calling for the government to create specialised teams to work with and support GPs to provide a better service to patients in nursing homes.”

The report was part of Alzheimer’s Society Fix Dementia Care campaign.

Ms Bayley said: “Around 70% of people in care homes are living with dementia – and they should not have to settle for a second-class service.”

* To find out more about the Alzheimer’s Society Fix Dementia Care campaign and to sign up to visit www.alzheimers.org.uk/fixcampaign .