More than half of people with Dementia haven't been diagnosed

More than half of people living with dementia in Wales have still not received a formal diagnosis according to a new report.

The 'Diagnose or Disempower' report reveals new evidence that of the 43% of people who have received a diagnosis, many will not have had adequate information and support needed in order to live well with dementia.

This figure varies widely within Wales, no Local Health Boards (LHBs) have diagnosis rates above 50% and the lowest is 37.2%.

Wales has some of the worst rates in the UK and has also seen very little improvement to these figures in recent years.

The report captures the experiences of people living with dementia and their views on their diagnosis and identifies a number of barriers to receiving a diagnosis of dementia in Wales, including;

• Low public awareness

• Fear and stigma

• Poor understanding of dementia by health and social care professionals

• Under resourcing of memory services

• A disinclination to diagnose where support services are not available.

The Diagnose or Disempower? report identified some excellent services for people affected by dementia in Wales.

However, it also shows substantial variation in the quality of services received.

People with dementia and their carers shared stories of support, or lack thereof.

Nearly 1 in 10 people reported receiving no support at all in the first year after they received their diagnosis.

The report also found variation in experience of diagnosis and support received from GPs and Memory Clinics and also variation based on the type of dementia diagnosed.

The report makes a number of recommendations including: All local health boards to set targets to improve diagnosis rates by a minimum of 5% per year until they achieve a diagnosis rate of 75%.

It also recommends the Welsh Government should run a sustained public awareness campaign on dementia, with a particular focus on reaching Welsh language communities.