Firstly, an estimated one million people will be living with dementia by 2025, so research is crucial to understanding the condition and improving outcomes for those affected.
In memory of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, the Government launched a new mission in August 2022 to put this into practice. Research funding for dementia will rise to a total of £160 million a year by 2024, with an additional £95 million being provided to increase clinical trials and research projects.
A new taskforce made up of industry, the NHS, academia and families affected by dementia will help lead this work to allocate funding. You can register your interest to take part through the Join Dementia Research website here:
https://www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk/
This mission compliments the Government’s commitment to publish the 10-Year Plan for Dementia later this year. This 10-Year Plan will include plans to increase research funding for dementia and deliver a moonshot. It will focus on the specific health needs of people with dementia and their carers covering prevention, diagnosis and research. In addition to this it will look at how new technology can be used to improve outcomes for dementia patients across the country.
Unfortunately, due to the impact of the pandemic, the estimated dementia diagnosis rate fell below the national target for the first time since 2016. While the rate has recovered slightly since the early part of the pandemic, there is more to do in order to reach the national target for two thirds of people with dementia to be formally diagnosed.
Finally, last year £17 million was made available to Clinical Commissioning Groups to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses.