FEATURE
Light in the Dark
John Ramsay, Managing Director of Social-Ability, discusses the role that interactive technology can play in solving loneliness in long-term care settings.
With hospitals under serious pressure from Covid, the health sector has found itself reeling from overworked staff and huge backlogs. Omicron not only saw hospitals admitting more patients, but also enormous staff shortages, with up to 50,000 NHS staff members a day absent due to Covid at the start of the year.
Combined with the long-term fatigue of Covid, the staff shortages have severely affected the health sector. One in four NHS doctors reported being tired to the point of impairment, and backlogs continue to rise to a record six million people waiting for hospital treatment, 300,000 of which have waited for more than a year.
This crisis of the health sector has massive repercussions across society. As a result of the long waiting lists, people are
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unable to access diagnosis assessments, and there is now a backlog of an estimated 50,000 people yet to be diagnosed with dementia or other cognitive challenges. GP assessments for dementia dropped 38% between 2019 and 2021, and MAS assessments at memory clinics dropped 50%, leaving a large quantity of people undiagnosed, and importantly, preventing them from receiving vital care. Without these diagnoses, many people will continue to be unable to access the treatment and support they urgently need.
The increased pressure on the NHS has leſt dementia care behind on the priority list. According to recent research from our team at Social-Ability, 82% of people feel that the care sector, in its current state, is unable to deal with a rise in demand for dementia care services. Reports are predicting
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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