Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the current level of risk from covid-19 to people living with dementia; and what steps is he taking to ensure guidance is reviewed in light of (a) Tier 2 restrictions, (b) Tier 3 restrictions, (c) any planned national restrictions.

The medical conditions used to identify those individuals at the highest risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 were agreed by the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers. Dementia is not included in the clinically extremely vulnerable list due to the varied presentation and severity of the condition.

Shielding was a very restrictive measure with negative consequences for many people, and the Government does not want to advise anyone to follow these measures if it is not necessary. However, clinicians in the National Health Service are able to identify any patient as clinically extremely vulnerable, based on clinical judgement and an assessment of their needs. The clinically extremely vulnerable conditions list is regularly reviewed in light of the latest scientific evidence.