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 adequacy of his Department's provision of care for dementia patients within the local community.

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Health 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 the quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

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.