Dementia diagnoses in England at a record high

The latest NHS data indicates that in June, a record 487,432 people in England had received a dementia diagnosis.

Nationally, the current diagnosis rates for dementia are at 65%, which is the highest since the start of the pandemic and is one of the highest dementia diagnosis rates in the world, with high income countries typically in the range of 20-50%. 

However, the NHS shares that it still has work to do to achieve its goal of diagnosing 66.7% of the total number of people estimated to be living with some form of the disease.

NHS staff across the country are proactively assessing care home residents to support identification of people who may have dementia and are encouraging people to come forward and get checked if they have any common early signs or symptoms of the disease.

Dr Jeremy Isaacs, national clinical director for dementia, NHS England, said: “Getting a diagnosis of dementia is the first step in supporting people, with a wide range of NHS services able to help.

“NHS staff have worked hard to recover services with the number of people with a diagnosis rising significantly over the last year, and now at a record level, but there is more work to be done.

“Thousands more individuals are being diagnosed each month and more medication reviews are being done within 12 months.

“Common early symptoms of dementia include forgetting bits of information, saying the same thing repeatedly, struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word and being confused about time and place. Usually, these problems will be more obvious to the person’s family and friends than to the individual themselves.

“If you have noticed that someone has symptoms, please encourage them to visit their GP for an assessment – the sooner someone is seen the quicker the NHS can help.”

Originally published on: NHS England » Dementia diagnoses in England at record high