Asked by: Mark Eastwood (Conservative - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of diagnostic hubs in diagnosing dementia in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offer a variety of tests, including several recommended for use in diagnosing of dementia. CDCs are an essential part of our plans to separate urgent and elective care and thereby reduce waits for diagnosis.
NHS England continues to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional and integrated care board (ICB) level. It has commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates, including by rurality, ethnicity, and age. This work will provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at local level, and is available via the FutureNHS collaboration platform.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Major Conditions Strategy provides a care and treatment pathway for patients living with (a) complex conditions and (b) dementia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are considering how we improve outcomes for a population increasingly living with multiple conditions.
Alignment of work across the six major groups of conditions, including dementia, was announced as part of a Major Conditions Strategy and will allow us to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centred around the patient, maximising existing resources both within patient pathways and in integrating between pathways.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has plans to invest in diagnostic infrastructure for people with dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We committed in 2019 to double funding for dementia research to £160 million per year by 2024/25. This will span all areas of research from causes and prevention to treatment and care, delivering evidence to help prevent, diagnose and treat dementia, enabling the best possible care and quality of life for people with dementia.
NHS England is also working with partner agencies to support and inform further research into other diagnostic modalities, including blood-based biomarker and digital tests, which will help improve identification and management of Alzheimer’s disease.
The National Health Service is a world leader in rolling out innovative treatments, including personalised cancer and life-saving gene therapies, and has established a dedicated programme team to prepare the NHS for the potential arrival of new Alzheimer’s treatments that are approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and determined to be clinically and cost-effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The team at NHS England are assessing the additional scanning, treating and monitoring capacity which would be required across the country. This includes securing additional diagnostic capacity including magnetic resonance imaging, lumbar puncture, and positron emission tomography and computed tomography.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve treatment and care for patients with Alzheimer's.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person with dementia, their families and carers, receive high quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life. To improve care for patients with dementia, including those with Alzheimer’s disease, NHS England's RightCare team is refreshing the RightCare Dementia Scenario. The scenario works through the dementia well pathway journey from diagnosing well through to dying well, detailing optimal and sub optimal approaches, with associated costings for each. The RightCare team is developing a dementia model pathway based on data for each component of the dementia well pathway to provide a high-level view of what dementia care activity looks like for local areas and will support targeted support where appropriate.
There are also several potential new disease modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease in development. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS England and the Department are working closely to ensure that arrangements are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and NICE recommended treatment for dementia as soon as possible.
Asked by: Paulette Hamilton (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of publishing a dedicated cancer strategy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced plans to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, which will focus on tackling the six major conditions groups: cancers, mental ill-health, cardiovascular disease including stroke and diabetes, dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for around 60% of ill-health and early death in England. Addressing cancer together with other major conditions will allow the Department and NHS England to focus on similarities in approach, ensuring care is better centred around the patient.
Following the call for evidence for a 10-year cancer plan in 2022, the Department received over 5,000 submissions. These findings are being fed into the development of the Major Conditions Strategy.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that families affected by dementia are able to access funding for care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has produced guidance on what to expect from health and care services following a dementia diagnosis. The guidance can help those diagnosed with dementia, or supporting someone with dementia, to understand the support and services available to them in England and how they can access this support.
People who may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), a National Health Service-funded package of ongoing care for adults with complex needs, should be referred by a health or social care professional to their integrated care board for screening and comprehensive assessment as appropriate. CHC may be appropriate for adults with the highest levels of complex, intense or unpredictable needs, who have been assessed as having a primary health need.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients waited more than 15 weeks for an initial dementia assessment in 2023; what is the average waiting time for an initial dementia assessment; and what steps she is taking to improve those waiting times.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally. To improve waiting times, we have set an expectation that everyone who needs an appointment at a general practice should get one within two weeks, with the most urgent patients being seen on the same day.
The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance, commissioned by NHS England, outlines the dementia care pathway and associated benchmarks to support improvements in the delivery and quality of care and support, for people living with dementia and their families and carers. The guide showcases good-practice examples of services that have successfully reduced their waiting times. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Chief Executive of NHS England and (b) NICE on regulatory approval of (i) Lecanemab, (ii) Donanemab and (iii) other medicines that could be used to manage the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely together with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and the Dementia Mission to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines, should they gain approval in the United Kingdom.
NHS England also has a programme of work overseeing national preparedness work ahead of regulatory decisions being made about the introduction of potential new disease modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease. This includes partnering with other national agencies, proactively engaging with other key partners including patient groups, identifying opportunities for information sharing and collaboration, and supporting integrated care boards as they plan for local implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to invest in diagnostic innovations and expand access to improve dementia diagnoses across NHS England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Timely diagnosis of dementia is vital to ensure that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care and support that can help them to live well with the condition and remain independent for as long as possible.
In 2021/22, the Government allocated £17 million to the National Health Service to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. In accordance with the Government’s commitments, we will also double funding for dementia research to £160 million per year by 2024/25. This will span all areas of research, including diagnosis.
NHS England continues to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional and integrated care board level, and is committed to recovering diagnosis rates to the national ambition.
They have a proactive national dementia programme in place, which includes monitoring international trial data, funding diagnosis improvement projects and informing ongoing research into the identification and management of dementia.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to help support people with dementia to complete the NHS continuing healthcare application.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People who may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) should be referred for a screening and assessment process as appropriate by a health or social care professional. The process is undertaken by the integrated care board and should follow a person-centred approach, placing the individual at the centre of the assessment and care-planning process. Someone with specialist knowledge of their condition should also be involved in the assessment process. Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means.
Individuals who are being considered for CHC should be provided with a copy of the public information leaflet along with relevant contact details and information about local processes. NHS England has also commissioned Beacon to provide independent and high-quality support for individuals and their families. A copy of the leaflet is available at the following link: