'WE MUST MAKE DEMENTIA A PRIORITY', SAYS CHARITY

Leading dementia charity Alzheimer’s Society says Lord Ara Darzi’s review of the NHS highlights why the UK government needs to act now and invest in dementia diagnosis, care, and research.

 

Lord Darzi, an academic surgeon who holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, completed his immediate review on behalf of the government in just nine weeks. 

 

What we learned is that the NHS is in ‘serious trouble’ and that public satisfaction with the NHS is at a record low. In the report, Lord Darzi highlights that social care “is a vital service in its own right, helping people with disabilities, and all of us as we age, to lead full and independent lives for as long as possible” but the National Care Forum (NCF) says this value has simply not been recognised, nor has it been invested in.

 

The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that there are approximately 982,000 people living with dementia.

 

Lord Darzi’s report found that the UK has a substantially higher rate of dementia deaths, which have been above 60 per 100,000 patients since 2014 and found that dementia diagnosis rates have not improved in recent years. The dementia diagnosis rate for people aged 65 and over has only recovered to around 65% compared to 68% before the Covid-19 pandemic. The proportion of patients with dementia receiving a care plan or care plan review in the preceding 12 months dropped to less than 40% during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

In their submission to the Investigation, the Alzheimer’s Society argued that there are “high levels of unwarranted variation in access to diagnosis and treatment [and] insufficient adherence to clinical guidelines”. As society continues to age, there is an important challenge to improve both the quality and quantity of care for people with dementia. 

 

There has been a significant increase of 2.3% a year in outpatient referrals and progress has been made in reducing the number of follow-ups to first outpatient appointment and there has also been important progress in expanding the role of specialist advice. This has helped to slow the rate of consultant-led treatment, as more patients can be managed by their GP, with appropriate specialist input. 

 

Other innovations include ‘virtual wards’ and since the national programme was launched in April 2022, virtual wards have been established in all integrated care systems in England with 12,365 ‘beds’ in place in July 2024134 and the ambition to be able to be able to admit 50,000 patients a month. 

 

Mark MacDonald, Associate Director of Evidence, Policy and Influencing at Alzheimer’s Society, has responded to the publication of Lord Ara Darzi's report on the NHS and what it may mean for dementia services.

Mark said, “This report paints a worrying picture, yet one which has been clear for some time: the NHS is broken and people affected by dementia are too often going without the care, support and the critical diagnosis they need. 

“We see the unrelenting impact these failings have on people with dementia every day. Almost a million people live with dementia yet one in three aren’t getting diagnosed at all, and there is huge variation in access to services. 

“As the Darzi report points out, dementia presents an important challenge, particularly as our population ages. 

“It places enormous pressure and cost on the NHS and without significant changes, those will get much worse. 

It is critical that the NHS is capable of diagnosing, treating and caring for people living with dementia now and into the future.   

“We are calling on the government to act and make dementia the priority it should be and invest in dementia diagnosis, care and research. 

“The new evidence we’re producing demonstrates an overwhelming case for change to do things differently and better. 

“This generation has the power to end the devastation caused by dementia, but only if we act and work together to do so. Alzheimer's Society stands ready to support the development of a new 10-year plan for the NHS."