Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection – Quarter 3 2014/15

The Quarter 3 2014/15 data for the Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection in England by NHS England were released on 4^th March 2015 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Three main measures are reported – the number and proportion of patients aged 75 and over admitted as an emergency for more than 72 hours:

1. who have been identified as potentially having dementia;
2. who are appropriately assessed; and, where appropriate;
3. were referred on to specialist services.

The key results for the Dementia Assessment and Referral data collected in December 2014 and Quarter 3 2014/15 overall are presented below:

Key points for December 2014

• 98 Trusts achieved at least 90% in all three measures, a decrease of 3 Trusts from 101 Trusts in November 2014.
• 88% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in December 2014, down 2 percentage points from 90% in November 2014.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 93% were further assessed in December 2014, similar to November 2014.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 97% were referred on to specialist services in December 2014, the same figure as in November 2014.
• The percentage of Trusts in December 2014 achieving at least 90% in each measure was as follows:
  • 75% of the Trusts (108 Trusts) carried out initial assessments for cases of dementia, a decrease of 5 percentage points from 80% of the Trusts (116 Trusts) in November 2014.
  • 83% (119 Trusts) carried out further diagnoses, a decrease of 3 percentage points from 86% in November 2014 (124 Trusts);
  • 86% (124 Trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, an increase of 3 percentage points from 83% (121 Trusts) in November 2014.
• The number of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care was 149 in December 2014, an increase from 148 in November 2014. These included 5 nil returns in December and 3 nil returns in November which were excluded from the figures reported above.

Key points for Quarter 3 2014/15

• 106 Trusts achieved at least 90% in all three measures, an increase of 8 Trusts from 98 Trusts in Quarter 2 2014/15.
• 89% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in Quarter 3 – 2014/15, an increase of 1 percentage point from 88% in Quarter 2 – 2014/15.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 94% were further assessed in Quarter 3 – 2014/15, an increase of 1 percentage point from 93% in Quarter 2 – 2014/15.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 97% were referred on to specialist services in Quarter 3 – 2014/15, an increase of 1 percentage point from 96% in Quarter 2 – 2014/15.
• The percentages of Trusts in Quarter 3 – 2014/15 achieving at least 90% in each measure was as follows:
  • 79% (115 Trusts) of the Trusts carried out initial assessments for cases of dementia, a 1 percentage point increase from 78% (115 Trusts) in Q2 – 2014/15;
  • 84% (123 Trusts)carried out further diagnoses, a 2 percentage point increase from 82% (122 Trusts) in Q2 – 2014/15;
  • 86% (126 Trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, a 3 percentage point increase from 83% (123 Trusts) in Q2 – 2014/15.
• The numbers of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care were 150, 148 and 149 in October, November and December 2014, respectively, a slight decrease from 151 providers in September 2014, that is, by the end of Quarter 2 2014/15.
• There were 4 nil returns in October, 3 nil returns in November and 5 nil returns in December 2014.

The full data tables can be found in the NHS England website:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/dementia/