Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia in the United Kingdom.

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.

For example, the ‘Implementation guide and resource pack for dementia care’ published in July 2017 sets out key recommendations on how services should be configured to provide good quality diagnosis and post-diagnostic care for people with dementia and their carers. It includes key roles and activity in primary care and memory assessment services to facilitate an accurate and timely diagnosis of dementia, while ensuring access to appropriate support following diagnosis. The resource pack is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/dementia/implementation-guide-and-resource-pack-for-dementia-care/