Recorded dementia deaths double, PHE confirms

Public Health England (PHE) has released figures showing the proportion of people dying with a recorded dementia diagnosis has more than doubled since 2001.

New reports produced by the Dementia Intelligence Network (DIN) in collaboration with the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network (NEoLCIN) draws on national data to see if there have been changes in dementia deaths over time. It identified who the people dying with dementia are, where they died and the cause of their death.

The data indicated the number of deaths related to dementia accounted for 6.6 per cent of all deaths in 2001, and 15.8 per cent of deaths in 2014.

PHE said the increase in recorded death is most likely due to an increase in the awareness of the condition.

Findings from the reports suggested that people who live in more deprived areas die with dementia at a younger age then people who live in more affluent areas.

Professor Julia Verne, head of clinical epidemiology, at PHE, said: “We hope that these products can be used to help the NHS and its partners to commission and deliver high quality end of life care in a way that makes the most efficient use of resources and responds to the wishes of dying people and their families.

Alistair Burns, National Clinical Director for Dementia for NHS England and chair of the PHE’s DIN leadership group added: “High quality end of life care is a key aspect of the quality of dementia services.

“This report highlights some important measures of end of life in people with dementia and is helpful in raising the profile of this crucial aspect of dementia care.”