A cross-party group of MPs is calling for an 18-week target for dementia diagnosis in the NHS, warning that current delays risk leaving patients too late for effective treatment.
The NHS faces mounting pressure to improve dementia diagnosis times as a cross-party group of MPs urges Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce an 18-week target for diagnosing the condition. The call comes amid growing concerns that current delays are leaving patients unable to benefit from breakthrough treatments.
Dementia is Britain‘s biggest killer, claiming 76,000 lives a year yet it lacks the diagnostic time frames imposed for conditions like cancer or heart disease. The absence of such standards has led to alarming delays, with patients waiting an average of three and a half years for a diagnosis, and one in three people living with dementia in England remaining undiagnosed.
Rising Wait Times and the Urgency for Change
The time between referral to a memory clinic and diagnosis has surged by nearly 70 percent since 2019, escalating from 13 weeks to 22 weeks. Charities warn that without a firm target, services may be scaled back, leaving patients to wait months or years as their condition deteriorates.
This delay could render them ineligible for new drugs that must be administered in the early stages of the disease.
A Cross-Party Appeal to the Prime Minister
A letter coordinated by Tory MP Joe Robertson and backed by more than 60 MPs, including former secretaries of state and select committee chairmen, emphasizes the need for timely and accurate diagnoses. The letter highlights that while the government has committed to completing 92 percent of referral-to-treatment pathways within 18 weeks for other conditions, dementia remains without a comparable standard.
The signatories, which include prominent figures like Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Sir Andrew Mitchell, and Dame Karen Bradley, express concern that the lack of a target could lead to fragmented dementia services across the country. They argue that with the potential advent of transformative drugs, prompt diagnosis is essential.
Criticism of the Government’s Dementia Plan
Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Michelle Dyson has criticized the government’s dementia plan, the Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty warning that it will be ‘not worth the paper it is written on’ after the removal of the 18-week diagnosis target from the latest draft. Dyson, a former senior official at the Department of Health and Social Care, laments the low ambition in the document, which was intended to be a ten-year plan to transform care for the one million people in the UK living with dementia.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Dyson accused the NHS of treating dementia patients like ‘second-class citizens’ who are ‘cast aside’ and often sent home with little more than a leaflet. The Daily Mail and Alzheimer’s Society have partnered in the Defeating Dementia campaign aiming to raise awareness, increase early diagnosis, boost research, and improve care.
The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges the devastating impact of dementia on patients and their families, stating a commitment to providing high-quality, personalized support for those affected.
