To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government has introduced to alleviate the condition of those with Alzheimer’s disease. (229867)

The Department’s service development guide for older people’s mental health services, “Everybody’s Business”, describes the range of services, which ought to be in place to support people with dementia and their carers.

In addition, in August 2007, the Government announced work on the development of the first ever National Dementia Strategy and Implementation Plan. A draft strategy was issued for consultation in June 2008, and a final strategy will be published in the near future.

Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in (a) the UK, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years. (229868)

The Department does not have data for the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the last 10 years. However, for 2006-07 and 2007-08, the General Practitioner Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) has recorded the number of people with a diagnosis of dementia.

The figures are given in the following table. They are the totals for patients with dementia. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for approximately 50-75 per cent. of cases of dementia, so the count of patients with dementia gives an indication of the number with Alzheimer’s disease.