6. Will the Minister make a statement on efforts to improve dementia services in Wales? OQ56738

Thank you, Luke. Delivering the actions set out in our dementia action plan 2018 to 2022 continues to be a priority for the Welsh Government. We continue to work with regional partnership boards and stakeholders to do this, and to identify areas where further progress is needed.

Thank you, Deputy Minister, and, as I'm sure you're aware, there are several different types of dementia in addition to Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form, affecting around 75 per cent of people in Wales. Lewy body dementia is the second most common type of dementia in older people, a type that my grandmother lived with, but it's relatively unknown and has very different symptoms to Alzheimer's disease. What strategies are in place to ensure that the sub-types of dementia are accurately diagnosed and recorded by health boards to ensure that patients get the best possible treatment, and carers and families get the right support?

Thank you very much, Luke, for that supplementary. And you've raised a very important issue, because we too often talk about dementia as an all-encompassing condition, whereas, as you've correctly highlighted, it does cover a range of different conditions. It is absolutely vital that we ensure that people have an accurate diagnosis, and also that that accurate diagnosis is properly recorded. Last year, a Welsh health circular was issued, requiring memory assessment services and primary care services to accurately record someone's dementia diagnosis according to set READ codes that are issued. Also, a new all-Wales pathway of dementia standards has recently been issued, which reinforces the need to do that, and, in order to attract funding from the dementia action plan, it is required that organisations align with those standards. So, that will help drive that progress, but also there's further work ongoing to embed the need to properly record the diagnosis being taking forward. But I'm also very happy if you would like to write to me with more detail about your concerns, as I recognise this is something you feel strongly about. I'd be very happy to look further at this and to meet you to discuss it further. Thank you.