When should I see a memory clinic about memory loss?

Perhaps you've started repeating questions, or a bill went unpaid that you'd never normally miss. Or it's a parent who's losing the thread in a kitchen they've known for decades. You've noticed, someone else has noticed, and now you're wondering whether it's ordinary ageing or something worth looking at.

The short answer: if the change has lasted, and it's starting to affect everyday life, it's worth a specialist assessment. That's what our memory clinic, led by Prof Arshad Rather, Consultant Geriatrician and General Physician, is for.

If you'd rather skip the reading, you can send a memory clinic enquiry or call 0207 499 1991, and the clinic will contact you to arrange the appointment. A memory assessment with Prof Rather is from £2,499, with the price confirmed when you enquire.

When is confusion an emergency?

Call 999 or go to A&E for sudden confusion, stroke symptoms, or severe illness that makes you think someone is acutely unwell. Watch for a drooping face, arm weakness, slurred speech, sudden loss of vision, a seizure, collapse, or someone who was well this morning and now can't recognise where they are. If you think it's a stroke, call 999 rather than driving them yourself.

When things feel urgent but not life-threatening, or you're not sure whether it's a 999 situation, NHS 111 can help online or by phone. A memory clinic is for gradual change, assessed calmly over a planned appointment.

Where to start with a memory concern.

Should I see my GP first?

Often, yes. The NHS suggests talking to a GP if you're becoming increasingly forgetful, particularly if you're over 65. It also says to get help if memory loss is affecting daily life or worrying you or someone close to you.

Here's something many families don't expect: stress, tiredness, illness and medicines can all cloud memory. A new tablet, an infection, low mood or a hearing problem that makes conversations harder to follow can look a lot like decline. A GP can take that history, examine you and decide whether bloods, a medicine review or a specialist referral would help. Our GP service is in the same building, with a consultation at £150, and a GP can also write a letter for Prof Rather if you go on to see him.

Is it memory loss or something psychiatric?

Sometimes the main problem is mood rather than memory. People lose words when they're depressed, sleep badly when they're anxious, and can seem vacant or withdrawn for reasons that have nothing to do with dementia. If low mood, anxiety or psychosis is the main concern and thinking is otherwise intact, a psychiatry consultation may suit you better.

The picture can overlap, though. Personality change, new confusion about place or time, or a partner saying someone isn't themselves can all sit within a dementia picture. The useful question is which thread won't settle. If it's memory, thinking or confusion, the memory clinic is the place to start.

What happens at a memory clinic appointment?

People come to Prof Arshad Rather, GMC 6035767, when work, finances, medication or safety at home have started to slip, or when planning, language or decisions have become an effort in a way that's new. Others come because a parent is repeatedly confused about place or time, because their personality has shifted, or because a partner, adult child or carer is sure something has moved beyond ordinary ageing.

Prof Rather takes a full clinical history, examines you when that's useful, and plans the assessment around your symptoms and background. With your agreement, a family member or carer can join the conversation, which often fills in details the person themselves hasn't noticed. Many families arrive unsure whether the change is ageing, stress, a treatable medical problem, or something that needs longer-term planning, and a structured assessment can help even when the findings are reassuring. Some people also start with cognitive screening at our sister service.

Each assessment is tailored to the person, which is why the price starts from £2,499 and is confirmed after your enquiry. Further tests are agreed only if they'd help answer the question, because no single test tells the whole story, and anything further is discussed with you before it's arranged. The visit is a careful assessment, so it can't promise a particular diagnosis either way.

How findings are shared, and how soon you're followed up, depends on what was done and what it shows. Ongoing review is arranged when it's clinically appropriate, and Prof Rather can liaise with your GP when that helps.

How do I arrange an appointment?

The person themselves can enquire, or a relative can on their behalf. Appointments are arranged by enquiry. You send an enquiry or call, and once the clinic understands who the assessment is for and what's already been checked elsewhere, it contacts you to arrange the visit according to clinical need and current availability.

When you enquire, you can ask for a Memory Assessment Consultation, Cognitive Screening, or Dementia Risk Assessment, depending on why you're getting in touch. Those labels describe your reason for contact, and Prof Rather still shapes the assessment around you.

Medical Express Clinic has practised at 117a Harley Street since 1984 and is CQC-registered, and Prof Rather sees you there.

Is dementia the same as Alzheimer's?

Not quite, and the difference matters. Dementia is a syndrome: a group of related symptoms linked to an ongoing decline in brain function. Alzheimer's disease is one type of dementia, and together with vascular dementia it makes up the majority of cases. The NHS is clear that dementia is not a natural part of ageing, and that people often confuse the two terms.

So memory problems don't automatically mean Alzheimer's, or dementia at all. Stress, medicines, infection, low mood and other medical problems can all mimic cognitive decline, which is why the visit starts with history and examination rather than a label.

What should I bring?

Bring any referral letter and previous results, a list of medicines, and, if possible, a relative's note of what has changed and when. If a GP, a hospital discharge or another clinic mentioned a finding, bring that paperwork rather than reconstructing it from memory.

• If the enquiry is for a relative, say so, and tell us who the appointment is for.
• If a family member has seen the change more clearly, consider asking them to come into the room.
• If occasional forgotten names are the only worry, mention them, though on their own they aren't a diagnosis.
• If a GP's blood tests were reassuring but things keep changing, that's still worth raising.

Related reading: choosing between a GP and a psychiatrist and when to see a private GP.