Exeter dementia study to be NHS tested as part of £80m government project

The University of Exeter run PROTECT study will be tested in the NHS as part of an £80m government drive to diagnose dementia faster.

Dementia causes more deaths in the UK than any other disease, but diagnosis can often take more than a year.

Early diagnosis can reduce the likelihood of emergency hospital admissions and delay the need for greater care support, reducing the impact of dementia on services within the NHS. It may also allow patients to receive treatment sooner, and make informed decisions about work, care, finances and family life.

The Dementia Challenge is accelerating the adoption of innovative technologies and practices that will diagnose and predict how the disease will progress. The goal is for 92 per cent of people to be diagnosed within 18 weeks of a referral, up from around 60 per cent today.

PROTECT is one of nine projects chosen to move into real-world testing in the NHS. Funded by DBIST via UKRI’s Research & Development Missions Accelerator Programme (R&D MAP) programme, it aims to help people and their families get earlier and more accurate diagnosis of dementia and better understand what a dementia diagnosis means for their lives.

Professor Anne Corbett, Exeter BRC Neurodegeneration co-Theme Lead, and PROTECT Study Lead, said: “Over the past 12 years PROTECT has been engaging people in the concept of health monitoring at home and we’ve built a tool which can help detect dementia risk earlier. What’s so exciting is this UKRI funding gives us the opportunity to fast-track PROTECT into the NHS, so the technology we’ve been developing can improve people’s lives.

“Waiting months for a dementia diagnosis delays access to treatment and support and also leads to poor mental health and wellbeing. We want PROTECT to address that gap by triaging the thousands of people waiting for a diagnosis and cutting the length of waiting lists. It will provide people with support and monitoring from home, reducing the burden on health services and making sure the right people come into clinic at the right time.”

PROTECT aims to understand how healthy brains age and why people develop dementia, and as part of this project will be integrating a digital platform into the NHS that enables people with Mild Cognitive Impairment to monitor changes in their cognitive health.