Memory Clinic

Those are specialist clinics which have grown up around the UK for the assessment (and sometimes treatment) of people with memory problems, including Alzheimer's disease and other dementia's. They are multi-disciplinary (that is they are run by different disciplines) but generally include a psychiatrist with a particular interest in older people and memory problems (an old age psychiatrist), nurses with a particular interest and experience in the area, and pychologists (who are not medically qualified but have specialist skills and expertise in the assessment and treatment of mental health problems). Other members of the team include occupational therapists (who are experts in maximizing a person's functional independence), speech and language therapists and social workers. As well as psychiatrists, specialists in general medicine in older people (geriatric medicine) can run memory clinics. These are doctors who have trained in hospital medicine but have chosen to specialize in the care of older people. Often, there is a close collaboration between colleagues in geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry.

At a memory clinic, the team will take a full history of the patient's memory problem and details about how it started and how it has progressed. Lots of other information about the patient and their history will also be taken.

The clinic will also carry out much more detailed examinations of memory and language, function than is possible at a GP's surgery. The clinic may well arrange for tests including blood tests, one or more different types of brain scan and an electroencephalogram (EEG - a tracing of the brain waves). This process may take some time but then usually the patient would meet with a senior doctor who, with them and their family (or friends if they wish), will go through the results of all the tests and explain what the most likely cause of the problems is.

This could range from a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia (or a combination of the two) to another type of dementia. The tests may have uncovered a physical problem which needs attention by another specialist and the person would be referred on. It may be that the person has memory problems but that they do not amount to dementia. In this case, some help could be provided to improve their memory function and it is likely that they would be asked to go back to the clinic in a few months for another test of their memory to see if there has been any change. Their memory problems might be related to stress and they would have the opportunity to discuss this with the memory clinic staff. The person might have depression which would be treated in conjunction with their GP. A full report of the consultation would be sent to their GP and they are entitled to receive a copy, if they wish. If in doubt, they can ask for one.

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