Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are implementing to address regional disparities in dementia diagnosis rates to ensure equitable access to diagnostic services for all.

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10 Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.

We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

To reduce variation in diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.

NHS England’s Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme led the development of resources to raise awareness of the specific dementia care requirements for people from ethnic minority communities, in order to improve access, experiences, and outcomes for people living with dementia from these groups. The resources include an e-learning module to support clinicians and a refresh of the Intercultural dementia care guide in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, which incorporates considerations around language and communication in the provision of culturally appropriate care. Work to update the guide specifically included focus groups with black African, black Caribbean, and south Asian communities, as the largest ethnic minority groups in England.