Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to clinical trials for new disease-modifying dementia treatments; and how they will ensure that early and accurate diagnosis is prioritised.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Government responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with dementia, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

As an example, the Department, via the NIHR, is investing nearly £50 million into the Dementia Trials Network, a coordinated network of trial sites across the United Kingdom, which will offer people with dementia the opportunity to take part in early phase clinical trials irrespective of where they live. This is complemented by the £20 million Dementia Trials Accelerator, designed to position the UK as the destination of choice for late phase clinical trials in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.

In partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and Alzheimer Scotland, the NIHR also delivers Join Dementia Research, an online platform which enables the involvement of people with and without a dementia diagnosis, as well as carers, to take part in a range of important research, including studies evaluating potential treatments for dementia.

The Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, which is expected to have nearly £150 million of Government funding allocated to it, or aligned with it, aims to speed up the development of new treatments for dementia and neurodegenerative conditions by accelerating innovations in biomarkers, clinical trials, and implementation.

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.

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 and/or support they need.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether, as part of their commitment in the most recent King’s Speech to strengthen the integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process, they will consider introducing compulsory voting for general elections.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government has no plans to introduce a compulsory requirement to vote.

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.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand the dementia diagnostic workforce to ensure that the NHS has the capacity to deliver timely and accurate diagnoses.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service in England to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.

NHS England is working with partner agencies to support and inform further research into other diagnostic modalities, including blood-based biomarker and digital tests, which may help improve identification and management of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme has already invested £13 million into a range of biomarker innovation projects, which include a broad range of 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.

NHS England has established a dedicated national programme team which continues to actively monitor potentially promising new treatments in late-stage trials, and which is working to co-ordinate preparations for the potential roll out of new treatments. These plans include assessments of any additional diagnostic capacity or additional workforce that would be needed if new treatments are licensed in the United Kingdom and achieve a positive recommendation on NHS adoption by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Enhancing the skills of staff working in adult social care is also vital to ensuring that the care provided is of good quality, fair, personalised, and accessible.

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many deaths have been reported where the cause of death was sepsis, either on its own or with other factors, each month in the past 10 years.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual data on the number of death registrations where sepsis was the underlying cause of death, and where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, in England and Wales, since 2001. ONS has not yet published the number of death registrations for sepsis for 2024.

The following table shows the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years:

Found: advantages which I have mentioned at paragraph 60 above. 64.During the oral evidence session, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Found: Strathclyde (The Chair); Lord Anderson of Ipswich; Baroness Andrews; Lord Beith; Lord Bellamy; Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Found: Strathclyde (The Chair); Lord Anderson of Ipswich; Baroness Andrews; Lord Beith; Lord Bellamy; Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Found: Anderson of Ipswich; Baroness Andrews; Lord Beith; Lord Bellamy; Lord Burnett of Maldon; Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Found: Bellamy Lord Murphy of Torfaen Lord Burnett of Maldon Lord Strathclyde (Chair) Lord Foulkes of Cumnock