Call for 18-Week Dementia Target in England — SkimNews
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- Alzheimer's Society published a joint report with the King's Trust calling for a "cancer-style revolution" in dementia care, anchored on an 18-week referral-to-treatment target in England
- Professor Sir Mike Richards, England's former national cancer director who introduced cancer targets in 2000, backed the proposal as achievable but said it would require "political initiative" and extra funding
- Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading a major review of adult social care, made the same 18-week proposal in a March letter to former Health Secretary Wes Streeting and is expected to publish her recommendations next summer
- Social Care Minister Alison McGovern told the Alzheimer's Society conference the report was "spot on" and confirmed the government will appoint a "dementia tsar, backed with real expertise" by year-end alongside a new service framework
- England currently has no waiting-time target for dementia, in contrast to NHS cancer diagnosis and treatment targets that have existed since 2000
- About one million people in the UK live with dementia, a figure projected to reach 1.4 million by 2040
- Andy Burnham returned from compassionate leave after his father Roy's death from Alzheimer's, saying his father would have wanted him "back out there" pushing the social care reforms
Why it matters: With roughly one million people in the UK currently living with dementia—projected to reach 1.4 million by 2040—and no waiting-time standard in place, an 18-week target would force England's NHS to measure and accelerate diagnosis on par with cancer. Richards acknowledged the change will require new funding, and Baroness Casey's review next summer will shape whether the target becomes binding.
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