CEREDIGION MP Ben Lake has lent his support to the charity’s Dementia Action Week campaign on the importance of dementia diagnosis after attending a Parliamentary reception hosted by Alzheimer’s Society where he found out that, unlike in England, NHS Wales doesn’t publish a dementia diagnosis rate.

Mr Lake is joining Alzheimer’s Society to call on NHS Wales to ensure that comprehensive dementia diagnosis data is collected and published centrally on a national level so that Wales’ performance can be compared to other parts of the UK.

Mr Lake said: “There are around 50,000 people in Wales living with dementia, but we have no way of knowing what percentage are actually diagnosed with the condition.

“Everyone living with dementia deserves an accurate, timely, and high-quality dementia diagnosis so they can access vital care and support, and plan for their future.

“High-quality data will benefit people with dementia, and enable NHS Wales to plan resources more effectively.”

James White, Head of National Influencing at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We thank Ben Lake MP for meeting with us, and showing his support this Dementia Action Week.

“In England, the dementia diagnosis rate fell below the national ambition during the pandemic, and it has remained stagnant around 62 per cent ever since.

“More than 30,000 people have missed out on a diagnosis during this period.

“We believe it’s better to know – nine in 10 people told us they benefitted from getting a diagnosis as it meant they could access treatment and advice and plan for the future.

“In Wales, we don’t even know the scale of the diagnosis challenge, so we need high-quality local and national data as soon as possible.”

Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Action Week was held between 15 and 21 May.

The week launched a campaign on the importance of dementia diagnosis.

The tagline of the week: It’s not called getting old, it’s called getting ill encourages people worried about their own or a loved one’s memory, to seek support in getting a diagnosis using a symptoms checklist.

Alzheimer’s Society research shows that 900,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, a figure that is expected to rise to one million by 2025, with dementia deaths rising year on year.

The dementia symptoms checklist is available on Alzheimer’s Society’s online hub at www.alzheimers.org.uk/memoryloss.