Dementia: Mental Health Services

(asked on 21st January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health services for dementia patients.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 31st January 2022

Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we committed to investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24. This will allow 380,000 more adults and older adults accessing mental health care, including through improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) services.

The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 sets out that all local areas will be expected to address inequalities in IAPT access for older people. To support this, areas must ensure that IAPT services meet the needs of older carers and people living with dementia and/or frailty, including those living in care homes. In March 2021, the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan committed an additional £500 million to ensure the right support is in place in 2021/22. This includes £110 million to expand adult mental health services, including IAPT and £17 million for the recovery of the dementia diagnosis rate and tackling the backlog of appointments.

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