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 older people diagnosed with dementia.

The Challenge on Dementia 2020 sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. This has been achieved and exceeded nationally. Our focus now is on reducing the variation in local diagnosis rates and NHS England have published guidance and put programmes in place to further improve the quality and timeliness of diagnosis across the country.

NHS Digital collects 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