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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve standards of NHS care for dementia sufferers.

Norman Lamb

NHS England has an ambition that two thirds of the estimated number of people with dementia should have a diagnosis and access to post diagnostic support by March 2015. We are informed by NHS England that there is a tremendous amount of work being undertaken by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across the country to improve diagnosis rates and quality of care for people with dementia. NHS England has found wide variation; with some CCGs having a longer journey to achieve the ambition than others. NHS England is providing a package of support to help CCGs to improve timely diagnosis and post-diagnosis support for people with dementia.

In addition, the Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, stated that a further 250,000 NHS staff will receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, in addition to the 100,000 NHS staff who received Tier 1 training in 2013-14.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many local authorities have signed up to become dementia friendly since the launch of the Dementia Challenge; and what other progress has been made since that date.

Norman Lamb

The dementia friendly communities recognition process was launched by Alzheimer’s Society in September 2013 and 55 communities have already signed up. We have therefore increased our original ambition of 20 communities committed to work to become dementia friendly, as set out in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, to reach 75 communities by March 2015. In addition, 59 local authorities are members of local Dementia Action Alliances.

The Department has worked with Alzheimer’s Society to develop the recognition process for dementia friendly communities. Malpas has signed up to the recognition process and is receiving support in its work to become dementia friendly. The Department is also working with Alzheimer’s Society and the British Standards Institute to develop a code of practice for dementia friendly communities, which will help communities to continue in their work to become dementia friendly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help Malpas to develop a dementia friendly community.

Norman Lamb

The dementia friendly communities recognition process was launched by Alzheimer’s Society in September 2013 and 55 communities have already signed up. We have therefore increased our original ambition of 20 communities committed to work to become dementia friendly, as set out in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, to reach 75 communities by March 2015. In addition, 59 local authorities are members of local Dementia Action Alliances.

The Department has worked with Alzheimer’s Society to develop the recognition process for dementia friendly communities. Malpas has signed up to the recognition process and is receiving support in its work to become dementia friendly. The Department is also working with Alzheimer’s Society and the British Standards Institute to develop a code of practice for dementia friendly communities, which will help communities to continue in their work to become dementia friendly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds his Department has provided for research into cures for dementia since 2012; and what progress has been made on such cures since the launch of the Dementia Challenge.

Norman Lamb

At the G8 dementia summit in December 2013, the G8 countries agreed to work together to tackle and defeat dementia. The declaration, built on the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge, announced the G8’s ambition to identify a cure or a disease-modifying therapy by 2025 and to increase collectively and significantly the amount of funding for dementia research.

Investment in dementia research by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research has increased from £12.6 million in 2009-10 to £24.4 million in 2012-13.