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 (a) the dementia diagnosis rate and (b) the provision of specialist care services for those living with dementia in York Outer constituency.

The Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (HNY ICB) is in the process of setting up a pilot with the York West Outer Primary Care Network, as one of the lowest recorded diagnosis rates, to trial a primary care diagnosis pathway to improve dementia diagnosis rates.

This would mean that a general practitioner with special interest in dementia, together with already commissioned Dementia Coordinators and with support from nurses in the memory assessment service in the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, can work through a caseload of individuals on the current waiting list for assessment, and provide a more timely diagnosis without the need for specialist secondary care intervention. The intention is that this will help reduce the current waiting times for assessment in the core specialist service, and increase the diagnosis rates in those practices.

In addition to this, the HNY ICB is working with City of York Council and a number of local voluntary, community and social enterprise partners to offer a more comprehensive and collaborative approach to pre and post diagnostic support for people living with dementia and their carers, through a Dementia Community Support Model.