Dementia screening - why?

[Dr Jekyll]

My Dad (late eighties but healthy) was asked by his GP to attend a check up to see if he had dementia. He passed, but I'm wondering what would have triggered it since he hasn't had a birthday recently. Could the GP themselves have thought there might be a problem?

I'm quite sure he doesn't have dementia. On the other hand he is a bit deaf (more than he seems to realize) and often guesses what people are saying to him, giving some conversations a surreal quality. He is also chronically indecisive.

I was always a bit bothered that if he was given some kind of dementia memory test he might fail due to overthinking everything as if it was a catch question. Answering 'who is the prime minister' as if he'd been asked to find a loophole in constitutional law perhaps.

[RC1807]

I wouldn't worry about it.
We're dealing with dementia in people who are in denial - my inlaws - and it's better to know in advance than some time later when it's too late.

If you don't already have something in place, PLEASE ask your dear Dad to set-up a Lasting Power of Attorney. We're trying to do it now but fear we may be too late - and we don't want Social Services making decisions for my dear inaws' future.

[hyphen]

Dr Jekyll said:

but I'm wondering what would have triggered it...

GPs now get paid a cash sum per Dementia diagnosis so they are more keen to do the screening than before.

[zeDuffMan]

hyphen said:

GPs now get paid a cash sum per Dementia diagnosis so they are more keen to do the screening than before.

I have heard it's something like £100 per patient.

We do a lot of CT scans on patients where GPs are looking to get that £100. We lose an hour a day to it.