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My journey to diagnosis, I was working driving HGV and I started missing drops and getting lost and I got so scared something had to be done. I went to see my GP and he got the ball rolling a week later mental health nurse called to test me.
Nothing went in my favour lol.
I started to go an early on set support group loved it we were all the same, 3/4 months later and that was the day I was to be diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. Worst day of my life.

When visiting my GP for a personal reason I told him I had suspected that my husband may be developing dementia. He told me that he was treating me & to make an appointment for my husband to see him. I didn’t see how I could tell my husband of my concerns especially as his sister was in a care home with dementia. He was very upset on her behalf. & said how awful it would be to have this problem. Eventually after at least a year or so I wrote a letter to my doctor pleading for his help & said I would pretend that he was going for a routine check up for his heart condition & that my husband would be unaware of the real reason. This was agreed & I went into the surgery with him. The doctor told me that he didn’t think it was anything I needed to worry too much about. However he arranged for him to be assessed & it was confirmed that he had dementia. 1 year on & his condition is now rather difficult to deal with.

My late father showed signs of Alzheimer’s from the age of 75. There wasn’t much medical knowledge therefore, no diagnosis or medication to at least slow progress down. Dad ended up in nursing home. At end of life, his GP just told us he was a very sick man. Dad passed away at the age of 85. In the 10 years Dad had dementia, mum and he were able to live a reasonably normal and active life for about 8 years. Dad then started to become more forgetful. He enjoyed a walk and doing a bit of shopping but came home by bus, one day getting on the wrong one. Holiday’s stopped as dad couldn’t deal with different environments. Mum increased the support he needed. The family supported them both even though we worked. Mum was a dedicated wife to dad and looked after him 24 seven. Her life also changed and it wasn’t until towards the later end of dads life she mentioned getting respite for him so she could have a much needed rest. Alzheimer’s/ dementia has severe affects on the person with it. Most certainly the emotional and physical affects it has on untrained carers and families is immense. The affects are 2 fold on the NHS !

My mum was tested and discharged by Memory Services without a dementia diagnosis, despite significant problems with her memory and cognition. Six months later, she tried to take her own life. She was admitted to hospital where they diagnosed Alzheimer's within a few days. It shouldn't take a suicide attempt to get a diagnosis.
My husband was diagnosed with mixed dementia following a critical illness. We were sent to Memory Services after he was discharged from hospital. The practitioner did not read his notes before the consultation - she did not know about his illness, his diagnosis or what medication he had been prescribed. He was discharged to the GP.
My experiences of Memory Services have been woeful.

It took us nearly 2 years to get a diagnosis for my dad. The GP was very supportive, however the memory clinic we were referred to wasn’t. They suggested that my dad was stressed and suffered simply from anxiety. They also tried to do an assessment over the phone without any family present and of course my dad said he was fine and that his family was exaggerating. They did a scan and it was inconclusive.
We were then referred to a neurological specialist. As it was during Covid we received our diagnosis over the phone. We did the best we could and the neurologist gave as much advice and support over the phone. It had been a big struggle since that from getting my parents financial support especially as mum had to stop work.
We have a lovely dementia nurse who tries to support us as best a she can but unfortunately the social care system as well as new GP has failed my parents.
What changes would I make.
Firstly - listen to the family when they have concerns about loved ones
- more financial support
- the assessment to get the support is mentally draining
-unpaid carers need financial support

Mam suffered dementia to such an extent she had to go into a Care Home. Nothing was ever done to slow down it's severity but when at home she had been allocated a carer for half an hour at 8am and 9pm. At the end she recognised only myself of her 3 children as a family member which was hard to take, as was her deterioration from how wonderful she had been as a mother and grandmother.

Our first visit to the GP practice was an appointment with the practice paramedic who after a basic test referred my husband to the memory clinic. He explained that they would only see him after a blood test and CT scan had ruled out any physical cause of his symptoms. Bloods were taken soon after and we waited for the memory clinic to contact us. After 6 months, during which time we were told by the GP that we had been referred and we just had to wait, I contacted the memory clinic myself to be told that my husband wouldn't be seen as he hadn't had a CT scan. Further communication with the GP surgery revealed the hospital had refused the scan as they didn't feel it was required. A brilliant lady at the memory clinic telephoned our GP to say it was actually a necessity. We had another appointment with the practice paramedic who said he would do everything in his power to get my husband scanned and he did. We were then finally given an appointment at the memory clinic but they were unable to diagnose as the scan results were not available! They referred my husband to the neurologist who diagnosed young onset Alzheimers immediately but we needed a PET scan to prove it. This was performed shortly afterwards and proved an accurate diagnosis.
We received the diagnosis in writing exactly 1 year after our initial GP appointment which was 1 week after my husbands 60th birthday.

My mam passed away with vascular dementia my 2brothers are living in now and iv just been diagnosed with vascular dementia. I was given a handful of literature and told to go to my gp.im in denial at moment with no help and im not really a mixer

My very young grandson told his teacher, "My granddad's brain is broken. They are trying to mend it, but if they can't, they are going to give him a new one instead, " The words of babes.