Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the 10 year plan for dementia will prepare the NHS for the arrival of new dementia treatments, such as Lecanemab.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are reviewing plans for dementia in England and further information will be available in due course. NHS England continuously reviews potentially promising new medicines which might provide benefits to patients in future, including Lecanemab.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had about improving dementia diagnosis to prepare for the arrival of Lecanemab.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have had no specific discussions. NHS England continuously reviews potentially promising new medicines which might provide benefits to patients in future, including Lecanemab.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the terms of reference for the National Dementia Mission.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - Opposition Whip (Lords)
Since its launch, we have commenced the recruitment process for the Chair of the Mission. Once the Chair has been appointed, governance structures and terms of reference will be developed.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will set out their spending plan to meet the target to increase dementia research funding to £160 million per year by 2024.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - Opposition Whip (Lords)
There is no intention to set out a specific spending plan.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how civil servants will support the delivery of the National Dementia Mission.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - Opposition Whip (Lords)
Civil servants from the Office for Life Sciences, Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been developing the Mission and will continue to be represented in any new governance structures and in supporting the Chair, once recruited. The Senior Responsible Officer for the mission will also be a civil servant.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had regarding the provision of (1) hearing aids, (2) stop smoking services, and (3) treatment for hypertension, to (a) reduce dementia risk, and (b) promote brain health.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
There have been no specific discussions. However, the Department is preparing a new dementia strategy, which will include a focus on prevention and risk reduction. As part of this work, in December 2021 the Department had discussions with the British Academy of Audiology on hearing loss as a risk factor for dementia.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures the dementia strategy will include to improve patient access to (1) FDG-PET scans, and (2) CSF tests, for an early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
We will set out plans for dementia in England, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis, later this year.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for health and care, including on assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers. NICE’s guideline Dementia: assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers states that clinicians should consider FDG-PET and CSF tests when the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is uncertain. A copy of the guideline is attached.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) commission the appropriate resources, including such testing, in line with local population health needs. To address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses, NHS England and NHS Improvement was allocated £17 million through the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement for mental health in 2021/22. This funding was made available to CCGs in June 2021.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the (1) approval, and (2) set-up processes, for dementia trials.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2021 to 2022 Implementation Plan sets out our commitments to improve study approval and set-up processes. This states that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the UK Research Ethics Services plan to implement a combined review of clinical trials to improve study approval. It aims to deliver a streamlined and efficient approval process through a single application route and a coordinated review. We also plan to introduce a National Contract Value Review to accelerate commercial research studies in the National Health Service. While the Implementation Plan is not specific to any disease area, it aims to benefit the research system, including trials for dementia. A copy of the Implementation Plan is attached.
We are reviewing ways to increase research for dementia and we will set out these ambitions in the forthcoming dementia strategy, which will be published later this year.
Asked by: Lord Goodlad (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what key performance indicators will be used to assess the success of the dementia strategy.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
We will set out our plans for dementia in England later this year. The strategy will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including dementia diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention and research. We will work with delivery partners to identify appropriate key performance indicators to monitor progress and assess the success of the strategy.