PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Dementia: Coronavirus (14 May 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report published in September 2020 by the Alzheimer's Society entitled Worst hit: dementia during coronavirus, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the increased deterioration of symptoms experienced by people with dementia during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle the decline in dementia diagnosis rates during that outbreak.

Asked by:
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour)

We continue to closely monitor the dementia diagnosis rate on a monthly basis. The Government has made £17 million of the Comprehensive Spending Review Settlement available to tackle the decline in the dementia diagnosis rate. NHS England and NHS Improvement are using this funding to aid recovery of referrals to memory assessment services, diagnosis of dementia and support access to post-diagnostic support.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to the expansion of the Enhanced Health in Care Homes service model and to expand further the NHS Comprehensive Model of Personalised Care, with a focus on enhancing access to social prescribing for people with dementia and their carers. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also made guidance and resources available to address the rehabilitation needs of people living with dementia who are recovering from COVID-19 infection.

Answered by:
Helen Whately (Conservative)
24 May 2021