Care England publish report on dementia diagnosis and care
Care England has published a new report entitled ‘The Current State of Dementia Diagnosis and Care in England’.
The report includes information from a national survey that Care England conducted in partnership with Dementia Forward and care providers earlier this year to capture the experiences of people living with dementia, their families, and care staff.
The survey findings highlight significant gaps and inequalities in the dementia care pathway, and these are documented in the report alongside case studies and policy recommendations.
Key findings include:
- Nearly one in three people wait over a year for a formal dementia diagnosis.
- Waiting times for memory clinics can exceed two years.
- 72% of individuals received no signposting to support while waiting for an appointment with a memory clinic.
- Only 28% of respondents found post-diagnosis support helpful.
- 82% of residential care workers have supported diagnostic processes.
- 70% face barriers accessing professional help for residents.
The recommendations call for:
- A national standardised diagnostic pathway
- A diagnosis accountability framework
- A waiting well support scheme
- Workforce education for care workers
- Dementia leads in every GP surgery
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:
“People living with dementia, and the professionals who care for them, are navigating a system that is too often reactive, underfunded, and disjointed. This report is a call to redesign that system from the ground up, which needs national leadership, long-term investment, and a commitment to treating dementia care as a priority, not an afterthought.
Behind every statistic is a person whose journey with dementia could have been better if there were earlier diagnosis and more coordinated care. We need leadership, investment, and urgency – as a society, we owe it to the nearly one million people living with dementia to build a system that acts before crisis, supports every stage of the journey, and delivers dignity, not disparity.”
You can read the report here: https://www.careengland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/The-Current-State-of-Dementia-Diagnosis-Care-in-England-3.pdf