Summary
Data on dementia diagnoses is collected to support the National Dementia Strategy. The aim of improving diagnosis rates was specified in the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge and the NHS Mandate. The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has issued further guidance to general practices and CCGs in England, about revised requirements to collect aggregated dementia data on the number of diagnoses, broken down by age and gender. These requirements for 2015/16 on dementia diagnoses data by age and gender will help to determine age and gender differences in diagnosis rates. The new data requirements comprise:
- The number of patients who have a diagnosis of dementia for each general practice in England (at the end of each calendar month for the financial year 2015/16).
- Gender category options apparently include: Male, Female, and Unknown/Not Specified.
- Age category options include: 0-29; 30-34; 35-39; 40-44; 45-49; 50-54; 55-59; 60-64; 65-69; 70-74; 75-79; 80-84; 85-89; and 90+.
- The total number of patients registered with the practice.
These improvements to data collection are expected to help avoid risks of under-diagnosis and support the planning of better care for people with dementia.
In tandem with these changes, the HSCIC claims to be seeking ways to minimise the burden of data collection.
Reference
Oughtibridge, N. (2015). Data Provision Notice. Collection of aggregated numbers of patients in England with a record of dementia diagnosis on their clinical record: for General Practices in England. London: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), July 31st 2015.
