Dementia care is 'stuck in the last century'. Here is what ministers promised today

What happened

Two big things about dementia happened on the same day. On Thursday 17 September 2026, Alzheimer's Society and The King's Fund published a joint report. It says people living with dementia are being failed by a system that is "stuck in the last century". The report argues that dementia care should now go through the same kind of change that cancer care went through over the past few decades. Later that morning, at the Alzheimer's Society Annual Conference in London, the government responded. Alison McGovern MP, the Minister of State for Social Care and Mental Health, gave the keynote speech. She confirmed three things. First, the government will appoint a "Dementia Tsar". That is a national leader whose job is to push dementia up the agenda and keep it there. The idea came from Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading the government's commission on social care. The minister said the post would be "backed with real expertise" and that she was "going to waste no time" filling it. Second, the government will publish the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia this year. The minister called it "our guidebook for better support". It is meant to set clear national standards, so that health staff and care staff are working to the same rules instead of doing things differently in every area. Her words on that were blunt: "We must put a floor under the kind of care that people can expect." Third, she announced money and a research target. The government has committed £5 million to the Dementia Patient Flow Challenge, which is about speeding up diagnosis and getting new ideas into everyday practice faster. It is also "turbocharging participation in trials to 2,000 people this year", with more investment in the AD-SMART platform trial and a next phase of the Dementia Trials Accelerator. She was also frank about why dementia sits so awkwardly in the system. The split between health and social care, she said, is felt most sharply by people with dementia and their families, "too often left to navigate a shattered system at the most difficult time in their lives".

Why this matters

Dementia is now the UK's biggest killer. That one fact sits behind everything else in the report. Yet getting a diagnosis is still slow and uneven. The Alzheimer's Society and King's Fund report says around one in three people living with dementia has no formal diagnosis at all. It also says half of carers reported that their relative waited more than six months to be diagnosed. A diagnosis is not just a label. Without one it is harder to get the right support, harder to plan ahead, harder to claim help you are entitled to, and impossible to be offered treatments that only work in the early stages. The report's central comparison is with cancer. Fifty years ago a cancer diagnosis was often something families whispered about. Today there is national leadership, clear targets, far better data, and survival has improved enormously. The report says the same ingredients could work for dementia. The charities want people to get a diagnosis, a care plan and access to treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP. That is their ask. It is not government policy, and the difference matters. There is also a cost that rarely appears in health statistics. The minister pointed to polling commissioned by Carers UK which estimates that about 1,500 people in Britain give up their jobs every day to become unpaid carers.

What the evidence actually says

Two things are true at once here, and it helps to hold both. The first is that the science really has moved. In her speech the minister noted that 158 dementia drugs are now being tested in clinical trials, compared with only 24 a decade ago. She also pointed to the CELIA phase 2 trial, presented in July 2026, in which the drug diranersen removed harmful proteins from the brain and slowed cognitive decline. That is genuinely encouraging, but phase 2 is an early stage of testing. It shows a drug is worth pursuing. It does not prove the drug will help most people, and it is not something you can ask for at your GP surgery. Sir Mike Richards, the former National Cancer Director, put the mood this way in the report: "I do believe that the conditions are right for the same revolution in dementia that we have seen for cancer." The second truth is that an announcement is a promise, not a change. As things stand today: - No Dementia Tsar has been named. - The Modern Service Framework has not been published. It is due "this year". - The 18-week target is a charity recommendation, not a government commitment. The minister named the gap herself. She said the average time for evidence and innovation to be taken up in everyday practice is 17 years. That delay is exactly what the £5 million is meant to attack. Michelle Dyson, chief executive of Alzheimer's Society, was direct about the timescale: "Urgency is critical. Dementia is the UK's biggest killer, and we cannot afford for this to take 50 years." So today was a significant day for dementia policy. It was not a day on which anybody's care actually changed.

Qurexa perspective

We deliver prescriptions and support people with taking their medicines across Lincolnshire, so a good part of our week is spent at the doors of people living with long-term conditions, and of the families looking after them. What we see matches what today's report describes. The clinical side and the practical side are often disconnected. Someone can have a sensible care plan on paper and still be struggling with four medicines, three collection dates and a pharmacy trip they can no longer manage alone. We want to be straight about the limits of that. Delivering medicines does not treat dementia. Nothing we do replaces a diagnosis, a memory clinic, a GP or a social worker. But taking one repeated, tiring job off a carer's list is not nothing. Carers tell us the pharmacy run is often the job that tips a difficult week into an impossible one. If you look after someone at home and the medicines side has become hard to manage, it is worth raising with your pharmacy, whoever you use. Ask what they can simplify, and ask what they can deliver.

Practical advice

If you are worried about your own memory, or someone else's: - Make a GP appointment. Before you go, write down two or three real examples of what has changed and when you first noticed. Specific examples help a doctor far more than "I've been forgetful". - Take someone with you if you can. A second person often remembers details you will not. - Ask directly about a referral to a memory clinic. You are allowed to ask, and asking is not making a fuss. - Expect other causes to be checked first. Hearing loss, thyroid problems, low vitamin B12, depression, infections and some medicines can all affect memory, and several of those are very treatable. - Ask your pharmacist for a medicines review. If several medicines are involved, ask whether a weekly pill organiser or a simpler routine would help. If you already care for someone with dementia: - In England you have a legal right to ask your council for a carer's assessment. That right does not depend on the person you care for getting support. - Alzheimer's Society runs a Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456 for information, support and advice. - If you are interested in research, Join Dementia Research matches people with dementia, carers and healthy volunteers to studies near them. With the government aiming for 2,000 trial participants this year, volunteers are genuinely in short supply. You are not joining a queue.

What to know

The short version: - On 17 September 2026, Alzheimer's Society and The King's Fund said dementia care is "stuck in the last century" and called for a cancer-style transformation, including diagnosis, a care plan and treatment within 18 weeks of GP referral. - The government confirmed it will appoint a Dementia Tsar and publish the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia this year. - It also committed £5 million to speeding up diagnosis, and aims to get 2,000 people into dementia trials this year. - Around one in three people with dementia has no formal diagnosis, and half of carers said their relative waited more than six months to get one. - None of this changes anyone's care today. If you are worried about memory, the most useful step is still a GP appointment. Sources: GOV.UK, "Minister of State for Social Care and Mental Health speech on dementia", 17 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/minister-of-state-for-social-care-and-mental-health-speech-on-dementia. The Care Home Environment, "Call for 'cancer-style' transformation in dementia care 'stuck in last century'", 17 September 2026, https://www.thecarehomeenvironment.com/story/52574/call-for-cancer-style-transformation-in-dementia-care-stuck-in-last-century. Alzheimer's Society, "Dementia Support Line", https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/dementia-support-line. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you are worried about memory changes in yourself or someone you care for, please speak to your GP.