Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the dementia diagnosis rate in (a) Liverpool Walton constituency and (b) England.
In December 2022, the recovery of the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% was included in the National Health Service priorities and operational planning guidance as part of the refined mental health objectives for 2023/24. This reinforces the importance of dementia as a key priority for NHS England and provides a clear direction for integrated care boards to support delivery of timely diagnoses within systems.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust has recently introduced the Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate tool to improve diagnosis of dementia within local care homes.