National Audit of Dementia Memory Services Spotlight Audit 2023-24

Rising dementia referral times

Jennifer Keen, Head of Policy at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

This vital data published by the National Audit of Dementia paints a worrying picture, with overall wait times from referral to diagnosis rising to 22 weeks on average. 

The importance of early dementia diagnosis

“An early, accurate dementia diagnosis is the key to unlocking care, support and symptomatic treatment – and long waits for diagnosis leave people without this help. On top of this, more than a third of people living with dementia in the UK don’t have a diagnosis at all.

Low numbers of specialist investigations

“This new data also shows that the number of people having specialist investigations remains very low at just 2.1%. Potential disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s on the horizon rely on these tests to confirm eligibility for treatment, so we will need to see rapid upscaling of these tests in the future.

A call for new dementia diagnosis rate targets

“Alzheimer’s Society is calling for bold, ambitious new dementia diagnosis rate targets to be set for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as for investment in diagnosis to ensure we have the people and tools we need to get more people diagnosed promptly and that, following diagnosis, they are then helped to manage their condition through access to care, information and support.”