Government announces ‘ambitious’ dementia strategy

Announcing the plan at the Alzheimer’s Society Conference yesterday, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said the strategy would target diagnosis delays, renew focus on dementia prevention, and explore new avenues of medicine, science and technology.

He added that the already committed £375m funding over the next five years for research into neurodegenerative diseases would be increased.

Mr Javid said he wanted the plan – which is due to be published later this year – to be “more ambitious than anything we’ve done before”. 

The upcoming strategy would build on other work. This included making integrated care systems statutory under the Health and Care Act, which meant “joint working and joint budgets will be directed towards caring for people and keeping them well in the first place”, and Claire Fuller’s upcoming “stocktake” review into primary care, “because we know that primary care is where the bulk of prevention can happen – and GPs play a crucial role in referring people with early signs of dementia”. 

Citing Alzheimer’s Society research, Mr Javid said more than 30,000 people had missed out on a dementia diagnosis because of the pandemic. NHS Digital figures indicate 62 per cent of people aged 65 or over who are thought to have dementia have received a diagnosis, compared to a target of two-thirds. 

The government announcement added that up to 40 per cent of dementia was thought to be preventable. There are an estimated 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK and it is predicted 1 million people will have dementia by 2025, rising to 1.6 million by 2040.