THE Government’s plans to pay GPs an extra £55 for each patient they diagnose with dementia have been branded an “outrage” by UNISON, UK’s biggest health union.

Gary Cleaver, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Organiser for UNISON, said: “We are as concerned as everyone else that an estimated 350,000 people suffering from dementia go undiagnosed.

“But GPs and hospital staff are all trained to do this diagnosis with a simple set of questions. It is a relatively quick, routine process and if people are going undiagnosed that failure should be addressed urgently.

“More money should be going into treatment for people suffering from dementia, not into the pockets of a relatively small number of GPs – most of whom have never sought to receive extra payment for doing their job. ”

“We are told there is no money available for NHS workers, yet as soon as the Government thinks they can gain positive publicity from throwing money at a problem, they can find it instantly.”