News & Events

New research suggests that there are 130,000 less people with dementia in the critical over-65s age category than perviously thought.

A study led by Cambridge University's Institute of Public Health says that the proportion of people over 65 years old with dementia across the UK is actually about 670,000 down from a previous estimate of 800,000.

However, the total number of dementia sufferers has increased slightly over the past 20 years the percentage of over-65s with the condition has dropped from 8.3% to 6.5%.

The Institute's paper, which was published in The Lancet, compared data on 7,635 older people collected from 1989 to 1994 against a group of 7,796 volunteers studied between 2008 and 2011.

For further information please read the following news story on the Daily Telegraph website Dementia rates fall as public health improves.

According to Welsh official figures, there are currently just over 42,700 people living with dementia in Wales and much work has taken place nationally to identify the areas which need to be addressed in order to improve the lives of those with and affected by this condition.

This has led to the creation of the National Dementia Vision for Wales which provides a long-term vision to ensure our country can best meet the challenge of the increasing number of people living with dementia.

As an organisation we are now focussing on dementia and the mental health issues it raises across Wales with further information available in our Dementia section on this website.

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.

If you're looking for a comprehensive source of the latest mental health news stories online then you could do worse than visit the Guardian website.

The site hosts an extensive Health section which covers all aspects relating to both the NHS and our own personal health issues.

However, underneath this section there are specific Dementia and Mental Health sections which you can subscribe to alerts via RSS (Dementia RSS and Mental Health RSS) to keep up to date with the latest stories from the section.

On top of this the site also offers free access to insight, advice and best practice via its Healthcare Professionals Network which you can sign up for via the following link - Healthcare Sign Up.

If you spot any news stories or articles on the Guardian or any other website which you think other mental healthcare professionals might find useful or interesting please email any links to our Project Manager Lesley Hills at lhills@rcgp.org.uk.  

Download the National Dementia Vision for Wales document

The National Audit of Dementia found many dementia patients fail to have the proper checks when they are in hospital.

It said too few patients have their mental state assessed, and information is often not shared properly.

However, the study found some improvements since its first analysis of care in England and Wales in 2011.

The audit looked at data from 210 hospitals across England and Wales including case notes for 8,000 patients with dementia.

For further information please read the following news story on the BBC News website Dementia patients miss key tests.

There are currently just over 42,700 people living with dementia in Wales and much work has taken place nationally to identify the areas which need to be addressed in order to improve the lives of those with and affected by this condition.

This has led to the creation of the National Dementia Vision for Wales which provides a long-term vision to ensure our country can best meet the challenge of the increasing number of people living with dementia.

As an organisation we are now focussing on dementia and the mental health issues it raises across Wales with further information available in our Dementia section on this website.

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.