GPs to be paid £55 for each dementia diagnosis

Family doctors in England are to be paid £55 for each patient they diagnose with dementia, NHS bosses say.

NHS England said the aim of the six-month £5m scheme was to increase the number of sufferers who receive treatment for the condition, which causes a decline in brain function.

It is estimated up to 90,000 patients are living with undiagnosed dementia.

But the Patients Association called it "a step too far" that would mean a "bounty on the head" of some patients.

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Dementia is leading cause of death for women

Dementia is the leading cause of death for women in England and Wales, official figures show.

The disease now kills more than three times as many women as breast cancer and thousands more than either heart attacks or stroke.

Analysts say the rising numbers may be because doctors are becoming more aware of the disease and recording it on death certificates more frequently.

Coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death in men.

For males, dementia is the third most common cause of death.

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