Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prioritise timely referral, accurate biomarker-led diagnoses and access to post diagnostic support and treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis and remain committed to increasing diagnosis rates and ensuring that people can access any licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended treatment, as well as any support, they need. Alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK, the Alzheimer’s Society, and the People’s Postcode Lottery, the National Institute for Health and Care Research is funding the Blood Biomarker Challenge, which seeks to produce the clinical and economic data that could make the case for the use of a blood test in the National Health Service to support the diagnosis of dementia.

Additionally, the Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme has already invested £13 million into a range of biomarker innovation projects, which include biomarker technologies, ranging from an artificial intelligence tool designed to improve the accuracy of blood tests for dementia, to using retinal scans to detect early-onset dementia decades before symptoms. Some of these innovations could support improved diagnosis in the future, if validated for clinical use.

With regards to access to post diagnostic support, the provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including for those with dementia. That is why we have recently published the Dementia 100 Pathway Assessment Tool, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.