Published: 21:00 BST, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 00:33 BST, 13 August 2026
Over 60 MPs have written to Andy Burnham calling on him to introduce an 18-week NHS dementia diagnosis target.
The health service is required to diagnose patients with cancer or heart disease within strict time frames but there is no such measure for dementia despite it claiming 76,000 lives a year as Britain's biggest killer.
One in three people living with dementia in England do not have a formal diagnosis and the remainder waited an average of three and a half years before getting one.
Meanwhile, the time dementia patients must wait between being referred to a memory clinic by their GP and getting a diagnosis has increased by almost 70 per cent since 2019, soaring from 13 weeks to 22 weeks, according to the latest figures.
The cross-party group of MPs, which includes former secretaries of state, warn the prime minister risks sending 'entirely the wrong signal' if he fails to act.
The lack of a firm target means services could be cut back, with more patients left waiting months or years while their condition worsens, charities warn.
In some instances this could mean they become too far progressed to benefit from breakthrough drugs, which must be taken in the early stages of disease.
The MPs' letter, seen by the Daily Mail, says: 'With the possible advent of transformative drugs, a timely and accurate diagnosis is essential.
Mr Burnham has tragically told how his dad is unaware he has become prime minister because he is living with Alzheimer's disease
'The forthcoming Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty (MSF) is the ideal place to enshrine a universal diagnosis target to bring dementia in line with other killers like cancer and heart disease.
'While progress has been made in reducing elective care waiting times through the Government's commitment that 92 per cent of referral-to-treatment pathways are completed within 18 weeks, dementia remains without a comparable standard.
'Alzheimer's Society Chief Executive Michelle Dyson has warned that the MSF is 'not going to be worth the paper it is written on' if an 18-week diagnosis target is not included.
'We are concerned that silence on the 18-week diagnosis target would send entirely the wrong signal and leave dementia services fragmented across the country.'
Mr Burnham has tragically told how his dad is unaware he has become prime minister because he is living with Alzheimer's disease.