Published: 21:00 BST, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 00:33 BST, 13 August 2026<\/p>\n
Over 60 MPs have written to Andy Burnham calling on him to introduce an 18-week NHS dementia diagnosis target.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The MPs' letter, seen by the Daily Mail, says: 'With the possible advent of transformative drugs, a timely and accurate diagnosis is essential.<\/p>\n
Mr Burnham has tragically told how his dad is unaware he has become prime minister because he is living with Alzheimer's disease<\/p>\n
'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.<\/p>\n
'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.<\/p>\n
'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.<\/p>\n
'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.'<\/p>\n
Mr Burnham has tragically told how his dad is unaware he has become prime minister because he is living with Alzheimer's disease.<\/p>\n