Publication, Part of Primary Care Dementia Data
Primary Care Dementia Data, March 2024
Official statistics
Reduced counts - Dementia type breakdowns
We have identified an issue whereby the counts of patients within the dementia type breakdowns from December 2023 to March 2024 are lower than expected due to an error whereby changes to the service for 2024/25 were implemented early therefore where patients who have a coded diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, Frontotemporal dementia or inconclusive dementia types would previously have been captured within the 'Other' dementia type breakdown, between December 2023 and March 2024 they were only captured in the total count of patients with dementia, and not in any of the dementia type breakdowns. This has led to a reduction of ~10,000 patients with a dementia type breakdown for each of the affected months.
This issue will be rectified from April 2024 onwards. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
8 May 2024 12:00 PM
Summary
NHS England collect and publish data about people with dementia at each GP practice in England, to enable NHS GPs and commissioners to make informed choices about how to plan their dementia services around patients’ needs.
The publication includes the rate of dementia diagnosis. As not everyone with dementia has a formal diagnosis, this statistic compares the number of people thought to have dementia with the number of people diagnosed with dementia, aged 65 and over. Where current monthly data for a GP practice is unavailable, the most recent data available are used (up to a maximum of 6 months).
Prior to October 2022, dementia data were collected via the dementia data core contract service and published as the "Recorded Dementia Diagnoses" series. The data in these two publication series are not comparable. This is due to the retrospective application of codes to patient records and changes in patient registration, as well as differences in coverage and the specification of several the counts.
Refer to the ‘Related Links’ for the supporting information page where details on these changes can be found.
Highlights
Key Facts
Recorded dementia diagnosis
481,707 patients had a recorded diagnosis of dementia on 31 March 2024, an increase of 2,885 patients since 29 February 2024
Diagnosis rate in those aged 65 and over
64.8% of patients aged 65 or over who are estimated to have dementia, had a recorded diagnosis of dementia on 31 March 2024, an increase from 64.5% on 29 February 2024
Medication reviews
276,720 (57.4%) of those with a recorded diagnosis of dementia on 31 March 2024 had their medication reviewed in the preceding 12 months
Resources
Last edited: 8 May 2024 11:36 am