Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of dementia diagnosis rates in (a) England and (b) Dorset.

We are committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate (DDR) to the national ambition of 66.7%, which in England, at the end of February 2025, was 65.4%. To support the implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data on the diagnostic pathway and enable targeted support where needed.

To aid dementia diagnosis and provision of support in care homes, NHS England has funded an evidence-based improvement project to fund two trusts in each region (14 sites) to pilot the Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate protocol. Learning is currently being shared and promoted with regional and local partners following an impact assessment of the pilots.

Published data collated in February 2025 shows that the South West region has diagnosed 61.2% of the expected prevalence. The current DDR in Dorset is 57%. Dorset Integrated Care System is finalising a formal Dementia Diagnosis Review with the aim of establishing a fully co-produced model, from pre-diagnosis to post-diagnosis, to improve the offer to their local population.