This is the publication of the Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection in England by NHS England for the period covering May 2014 in England. It was released on 6th August 2014 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Key points

The key results for data collected on the number and proportion of patients aged 75 and over admitted as an emergency for more than 72 hours who have been identified as potentially having dementia, who are appropriately assessed and, where appropriate, were referred on to specialist services are as follows:

• 94 trusts achieved at least 90% in all three measures, a large increase of 13 more trusts from 81 trusts in April 2014.
• 86% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in May 2014, an increase of 1 percentage point from 85% in April 2014.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 93% were further assessed in May 2014, an increase of 1 percentage point from 92% in April 2014.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 94% were referred on to specialist services in May 2014, an increase of 3 percentage points from 91% in April 2014.
• The percentage of trusts in May 2014 achieving at least 90% in each measure was as follows:

o   74% of the trusts (108 trusts) carried out initial assessments for cases of dementia, an increase of 7 percentage points from 67% (98 trusts) in April 2014;

o   78% (114 trusts) carried out further diagnoses, an increase of 7 percentage points from 71% (104 trusts) in April 2014;

o   82% (119 trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, an increase of 5 percentage points from 77% (112 trusts) in April 2014.

The number of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care was 151 in May 2014, an increase from 150 in April 2014. These included 4 nil returns in April 2014 and 5 nil returns in May 2014, which were excluded from the figures reported above.
For more information see the Dementia, Assessment and Referral 2014-15 page.

Contact Us
You can obtain further details about the statistics published in this section or send in your comments by emailing the team at the address below.
Email: england.dementia@nhs.net