Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of dementia diagnosis in each of the last five years.
The Challenge on Dementia 2020 sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. The target was met consistently at the national level from July 2016.
The dementia diagnosis rate fell below the national ambition at the start of the pandemic, as many memory assessment services were temporarily closed and normal referral routes were disrupted. Memory assessment services have now reopened, adapting delivery of their service to offer virtual assessments using telephone or video conference so that diagnoses can be made. These adaptations are being supported and promoted at a national level through guidance and through working with dementia networks and other stakeholders.
NHS Digital collect data on the number of patients with a recorded dementia diagnosis in their clinical record and report this on a monthly basis, so that the National Health Service - general practitioners and commissioners - can make informed choices about how to plan their services around their patient’s needs. The data is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/recorded-dementia-diagnoses