Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to establish national standards for (a) referral and (b) waiting times for memory assessment services.

The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance was commissioned by NHS England. This document outlines the dementia care pathway and associated benchmarks to support improvements in the delivery and quality of care and support, for people living with dementia and their families and carers. The guidance includes information on key roles and activity for both primary care services and memory assessment services to facilitate an accurate and timely diagnosis of dementia, while ensuring access to appropriate support following diagnosis.

The guide also sets out an aspiration to increase the number of people being diagnosed with dementia, and starting treatment, within six weeks from referral, and showcases good-practice examples of services that have successfully reduced their waiting times. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/dementia/nccmh-dementia-care-pathway-full-implementation-guidance.pdf