Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there has been a relative increase in the numbers of people diagnosed with (a) dementia and (b) heart disease over the last 18 months.

There has been a decrease in the numbers of people diagnosed with dementia and heart disease in the last 18 months. The reduction in the numbers of people diagnosed with dementia and heart disease can be attributed to the impact of COVID-19.

The number of people registered to with a general practitioner (GP), the data shows that 0.72% were diagnosed with dementia in November 2021, compared to 0.73% in June 2020. This coincided with a reduction of 25% in referrals from GPs to memory clinics. There has been a reduction of 0.04% in the number of people diagnosed with heart disease in England in the last 18 months.