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 regional variation in dementia diagnosis rates in England; and what steps he is taking to tackle potential variation.

While no formal assessment has been made, NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at regional and sustainability and transformation partnership level.

In 2021/22, we made £17 million available to clinical commissioning groups to address the needs of those waiting for a diagnosis and those with a diagnosis who were unable to access support services due to the pandemic. Factsheets were also provided to encourage conversations to understand local patterns and potential reasons for trends in dementia diagnosis rates, as well as identifying specific areas for support. We will set out plans for dementia in England later this year, including a focus on dementia diagnosis.