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[Roxie]

Hi everyone.

It's been a while, back in Nov 2012 I turned to you guys for help in trying to make our doctor listen to our concerns about my mother. You were all very supportive and thank you for that.

I now have another question. How long roughly should it take between the initial concern being aired to medication.

You have probably all put 2 and 2 together and realised that my mother is still not on any medication and its been 14 months.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[cobden28]

Maybe your GP has simply forgotten..? I'm assuming your Mum's condition has altered during this time, ie worsened, so if I were you I'd go back to the GP and remind him. Continuously, until he got on and did something.

 

[lin1]

Hello Roxie
Do you know what type of Dementia your Mum has been diagnosed with?
The reason I ask is that here in the UK , drugs that may help to slow down the progression are normally only prescribed for Alzheimers or Alzheimer's type dementia.

Here in England it is not normally the GP who initially prescribes medication that may help to slow down Alzheimer's.

 

[Roxie]

The memory clinic have been waiting on blood tests.

The fact that it took our GPS from Nov 2012 to July 2013 to get the initial test and now he seems to be delaying the results. I'm starting to get the impression that this is verging on neglect. I attended an appointment with my mother last year about a different matter. She had mild arthritis in her hands, the GPS answer was " well the memory clinic can sort that out now" indicating that he's not even listening to my parents when they do attend an appointment.

Just stuck on what to do to get a result, my father is struggling to chase up something that he does not want to accept! And obviously the gp is refusing to speak to me.

 

[lin1]

Mmm I thought the problem might still be to do with that Gp.
I think a complaint to the practice manager about that Gp is totally in order
Also if their are other GP's at that practice, I suggest seeing one of them in future or changing to another practice.
I am not sure about other parts of the UK, but here in England we are no longer registered with a GP, instead we are registered with the practice.

Have the blood tests been done ,if so, unless marked as urgent it takes about two Weeks for them to get the results .

Re that GP not speaking to you.
If your Mum is agreeable and can sign a letter, you could do what I did with my Dad, he doesn't have dementia but has some of the symptoms caused by a head injury a few yrs ago, + some other unrelated health problems.
Although I had ,had no problems at all with the GP's discussing things about my Mum who did have dementia , with me.
I did not want to take that risk with my dad.

So with Dads agreement I penned a short letter, saying something like , I (insert name)
Give my permission to discuss anything with my (insert name and relationship) dad signed the letter
and handed this into reception at the practice, I kept a copy just incase.

If Mum has capacity to understand , this is nothing at all to do with being able to remember, and mum is agreeable .
You could and in my view should do a Lasting power of attorney (LPA) asap
Their are two types one is for finances, the other is for health and welfare,
I strongly recommend doing both.

The health and welfare one can only be used when capacity to understand has been lost.
That's why I did that letter .

I hope this helps

 

[Noorza]

The memory clinic have been waiting on blood tests.

The fact that it took our GPS from Nov 2012 to July 2013 to get the initial test and now he seems to be delaying the results. I'm starting to get the impression that this is verging on neglect. I attended an appointment with my mother last year about a different matter. She had mild arthritis in her hands, the GPS answer was " well the memory clinic can sort that out now" indicating that he's not even listening to my parents when they do attend an appointment.

Just stuck on what to do to get a result, my father is struggling to chase up something that he does not want to accept! And obviously the gp is refusing to speak to me.

I wonder what they are telling the GP though? Is it the GP delaying or is it your Dad telling them not to worry about chasing it up?

I don't know obviously but the GP doing a memory test and then doing a referral to the memory clinic seems a very straight forward part of their role.

Is the delay with the memory clinic perhaps? It would be the memory clinic who would let you know the results not the GP.

 

[Dikimiki]

The Memory Clinic is not a Panacea

The memory clinic have been waiting on blood tests.

The fact that it took our GPS from Nov 2012 to July 2013 to get the initial test and now he seems to be delaying the results. I'm starting to get the impression that this is verging on neglect. I attended an appointment with my mother last year about a different matter. She had mild arthritis in her hands, the GPS answer was " well the memory clinic can sort that out now" indicating that he's not even listening to my parents when they do attend an appointment.

Just stuck on what to do to get a result, my father is struggling to chase up something that he does not want to accept! And obviously the gp is refusing to speak to me.

ObviouslyI do not know how ill your Mum is, or how far she is along the path to full blown dementia, but in my experience with my now dear departed wife, all the MC did was prescribe a drug, and when the side effects of that became all too pronounced, then another drug was added to the mix, and then a third drug, Risperidone, which turned her into a Zombie.
Until the MC got its hands on her, my wife suffered from simple memory loss; for over three years all it did was set her the idiotic recognition tests which solved nothing apart from causing her acute stress. Then, probably when it was all too late, the drugs regime began and helped to finish her off.
Be very careful what you wish for. And good luck.