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 trends in the level of dementia diagnoses in England; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to monitor monthly trends in the dementia diagnosis rate. The national target is for more than 66% of people living with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. Following the impact of the pandemic, in March 2022 the diagnosis rate increased to 62%.

In 2021/22, we allocated £17 million to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. NHS England and NHS Improvement made this funding available to clinical commissioning groups in June 2021. In 2022/23, NHS England will provide funding to support general practitioners in pilots on the approaches to diagnosing dementia for people living with advanced dementia in a care home setting. We will set out plans for dementia in England later this year. The strategy will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including dementia diagnosis.