ABSTRACT
The following considerations suggest that requesting a domiciliary visit would be appropriate. • Only 50% of patients referred to geriatric out-patients turn up in the ambulance. • The patient’s level of dementia may deteriorate in a strange environment and
cannot be assessed in these circumstances. • The domiciliary visit may result in investigations at the day-hospital rather than as
an in-patient. • Someone from the geriatric team will visit in any case to assess the home situation
before the patient is discharged. • The patient’s untidy home and stained clothes may be due to aggravation of her
dementia by the metabolic effects of the current diarrhoea. This might respond quickly to treatment, and a temporary increase in provision of home care could meet her social needs.
