Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase diagnostic capacity in memory clinics to reduce waiting times for dementia diagnosis in England.

We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services, including for the detection and diagnosis of dementia, through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging scanners.

To further reduce waiting times for diagnosis, NHS England has funded an evidence-based improvement project to fund two trusts in each region, 14 sites in total, to pilot the Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate tool to improve the diagnosis of dementia and provision of support in care homes. All pilots completed at the end of May 2024, and it is anticipated that learning will be shared by end of the third quarter of 2024/25.