DementiaRoadmap Wales

Promoting living well with dementia across Wales
Diagnostic process → Referral

Referral

Clinicians can refer a person with memory problems to a consultant in a particular specialty, such as:

  • Neurologists who specialise in disorders of the brain and nerve pathways. Some neurologists have particular experience in diagnosing dementia especially young onset and atypical dementia.

  • Specialists in medicine for older people (geriatricians) who specialise in the physical illnesses and disabilities commonly associated with old age and in the care of older people. If the person who is being diagnosed has reached retirement age they may be referred to one of these specialists to see whether their symptoms are due to a physical illness, or to find out whether they are suffering from a physical illness as well as dementia.

  • General adult psychiatrists specialise in diagnosing and treating a wide range of mental health problems. A younger person may be referred to a psychiatrist to assist in the diagnosis.

  • Old age psychiatrists are psychiatrists who have further specialised in the mental health problems of older people, including dementia. They may sometimes also offer support to younger people with dementia.

  • There is a subset of psychiatrists who have specialist knowledge about people with learning disability to whom this group of patients with suspected dementia are referred.

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  • Unlocking Diagnosis: The key to improving the lives of people with dementiaJuly 4 2012This report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia (APPG) explores the barriers to dementia diagnosis in the UK. It makes recommendations to improve diagnosis rates and provide better post diagnosis support for people with dementia.
  • Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2020February 21 2015The Prime Minister recently launched the government’s five year vision for the future of dementia care, support and research, which follows on from the existing Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, launched in March 2012.
  • Dementia and People with Intellectual Disabilities: Guidance on their Assessment, Diagnosis, Interventions and SupportApril 29 2015This guidance published by the British Psychological Society aims to promote effective and timely assessment, diagnosis, interventions and support to people with intellectual disabilities who develop dementia.
  • Younger people with dementiaMay 19 2015This factsheet published by the Alzheimer's Society explores at the types of dementia that younger people under 65 years of age may have, some of the difficulties that they might experience and where support can be found.
  • Dementia: A state of the nation report on dementia care and support in EnglandNovember 29 2013This report, published by the Department of Health, sets out what is known about dementia care, support and research. It highlights where improvements are being made and where improvements are needed.
  • QS30: Supporting people to live well with dementiaApril 3 2013This quality standard, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), covers the care and support of people with dementia.
  • Referral for a diagnosisApril 7 2014This leaflet produced by the Lewy Body Society highlights the importance of practitioners identifying the main symptoms of Lewy body dementia early to enable referral to a specialist at a memory clinic for correct diagnosis to be made.
  • CMG48: Support for commissioning of dementia careApril 3 2013This guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) summarises the key commissioning issues and the resource impact that will arise from implementing improvements in the quality of care for people with dementia, in line with the statements and measures that comprise the NICE quality standards for dementia.

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