Isle Of Wight MP Leads Cross-Party Call For 18-Week Dementia Diagnosis Target

Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson has led a cross-party call for a binding target requiring people referred for a dementia diagnosis to receive one within 18 weeks.

More than 60 MPs have backed a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling for the target to be included in the Government's forthcoming Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty.

The campaign, supported by Alzheimer's Society, argues people with dementia should have the same certainty over waiting times as patients on other NHS pathways.

While a national 18-week standard applies to referral-to-treatment pathways, the letter says there is currently no equivalent referral-to-diagnosis target for dementia.

According to figures highlighted by the campaign, more than a third of people living with dementia in England do not have a formal diagnosis.

Those who are diagnosed are said to wait an average of three-and-a-half years between first experiencing symptoms and receiving a diagnosis.

Referral-to-diagnosis waiting times have also reportedly risen by almost 70% since 2019, increasing from 13 weeks to 22 weeks.

Mr Robertson has previously raised the issue during a Health and Social Care Select Committee session in July, when he questioned former Health Secretary James Murray over the absence of a binding 18-week target from the forthcoming framework.

The MP has also linked improvements to dementia and social care services with efforts to reduce pressure on hospitals, particularly on the Isle of Wight, which has one of the UK's oldest populations.

Mr Robertson said: “There has been lots of welcome talk from the Prime Minister about fixing social care, but now we need action.

“The Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty will be the first test. Diagnosis is the gateway to care, yet too many people are waiting far too long to get one.

“An 18-week diagnosis target is a practical commitment the Prime Minister can make now to show he is serious about improving social care.”