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

Note that there are changes to the Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection from April 2015 due to extending the CQUIN^[1] for 2015/16 to include community service providers as well as acute trusts for the Find and Assess/Investigate indicators and provide an over view at CCG level for the Refer/Inform indicator. This means current trends will stop with this publication and future publications will report indicators on the new basis.

Key findings for March 2015; Quarter 4 – 2014/15; and overall for 2014/15 are presented below.

Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection – March 2015

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 1 trust from 102 trusts in February 2015.
• 91% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in March 2015, up 1 percentage point from 90% in February 2015.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 95% were further assessed in March 2015, similar to February 2015.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 96% were referred on to specialist services in March 2015, the same figure as in February 2015.
• The percentage of trusts in March 2015 achieving at least 90% in each measure was as follows:
  • 79% of the trusts (114 trusts) carried out initial assessments for cases of dementia, a decrease of 2 percentage points from 81% of the trusts (117 trusts) in February 2015.
  • 85% (122 trusts) carried out further diagnoses, a decrease of 1 percentage point from 86% in February 2015 (124 trusts);
  • 85% (123 trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, an increase of 1 percentage point from 84% (122 trusts) in February 2015.
• The number of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care was 149 in March 2015, the same as in February 2015. These included 5 nil returns in March and 4 nil returns in February which were excluded from the figures reported above.

Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection – Quarter 4 2014/15

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:

• 105 trusts achieved at least 90% in all three measures, a decrease of 1 trust from 106 trusts in Quarter 3 2014/15.
• 90% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia in Quarter 4 – 2014/15, an increase of 1 percentage point from 89% in Quarter 3 – 2014/15.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 95% were further assessed in Quarter 4 – 2014/15, an increase of 1 percentage point from 94% in Quarter 3 – 2014/15.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 96% were referred on to specialist services in Quarter 4 – 2014/15, similar to Quarter 3 – 2014/15.
• The percentages of trusts in Quarter 4 – 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, similar to Q3 – 2014/15 (115 trusts);
  • 86% (124 Trusts)carried out further diagnoses, an increase of 2 percentage points from 84% (122 trusts) in Q3 – 2014/15;
  • 86% (124 Trusts) referred cases on to specialist services, similar to 86% (126 trusts) in Q3 – 2014/15.
• The numbers of data returns submitted by NHS providers of acute funded care were 149 in January, February and March 2015, the same as in December 2014, that is, by the end of Quarter 3 2014/15

Dementia Assessment and Referral data collection – Overall for 2014/15

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 for the 2014/15 financial year:

• At the beginning of 2014/15, 55% (82 trusts) were achieving over 90% in all three indicators, this increased by 14 percentage points to 69% (103 trusts) by the end of 2014/15.
• 88% of admitted patients were initially assessed for potential dementia on average in 2014/15, up 9 percentage points from 79% on average in 2013/14.
• Of the patients initially assessed and found as potentially having dementia, 94% were further assessed on average in 2014/15, up 5 percentage points from 89% on average in 2013/14.
• Of the patients who were further assessed and in which the outcome was either positive or inconclusive, 96% were referred on to specialist services on average in 2014/15, up 7 percentage points from 89% on average in 2013/14.

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

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

[1] Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) Guidance 2015/16 for further information please see https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-standard-contract/15-16/