The October 2014 data for the Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection in England by NHS England were released on the 7th January 2015 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection – October 2014

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:

• 103 trusts achieved at least 90% in all three measures, an increase of 6 trusts from 97 trusts in September 2014.
• 89% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in October 2014, the same percentage as in September 2014.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 94% were further assessed in October 2014, an increase of 1 percentage point from 93% in September 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 October 2014, an increase of 1 percentage point from 96% in September 2014.

• The percentage of trusts in October 2014 achieving at least 90% in each measure was as follows:

o 82% of the trusts (119 trusts) carried out initial assessments for cases of dementia, an increase of 2 percentage points from 80% (118 trusts) in September 2014;
o 84% (123 trusts) carried out further diagnoses, an increase of 3 percentage points from 81% in September 2014 (119 trusts);
o 84% (123 trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, an increase of 1 percentage points from 83% (122 trusts) in September 2014.

• The number of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care was 150 in October 2014, a decrease from 151 in September 2014. These included 4 nil returns in both September 2014 and October 2014 which were excluded from the figures reported above.

The full data tables can be found in the NHS England website:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/dementia/