Local MP urges Government to prepare for Dementia Treatment Revolution

Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame spoke in Parliament last week urging the government to act now to ensure the NHS is ready to deliver the next generation of dementia treatments.

In 2024, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved two new disease modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s. This marked a major step forward after decades of limited progress in dementia research.

As Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Access to Medicines and Medical Devices, Freddie van Mierlo warned that while science is moving quickly, the NHS is not yet equipped to deliver what patients will soon need.

In his speech, Freddie van Mierlo said:

“These medicines chart a path to a time when Alzheimer’s and other dementias are treatable conditions. They can be delayed to the point where, for all intents and purposes, cured.”

With more than 100 dementia treatments currently in development, he stressed that the UK must be ready for the wave of innovation already underway. However, he warned that existing systems are not fit to support early detection, timely diagnosis or safe delivery of these treatments.

Freddie van Mierlo highlighted specific challenges across the NHS. These include long waits to see GPs, limited capacity at memory clinics, and serious shortfalls in access to diagnostic tools such as MRI and PET scans. The UK has just 6.1 MRI scanners per million people, the lowest number in the OECD, compared to 30.5 per million in Germany. He also called for the wider use of emerging blood-based biomarker tests, such as those being trialled at the Warneford Hospital in Oxfordshire.

He raised concerns about how new medicines are assessed by NICE. Both Lecanemab and Donanemab were approved by the MHRA, but rejected by NICE on the same day. This means the drugs were deemed safe and effective but considered too expensive for the NHS under current evaluation methods.

Even if treatments receive full regulatory and funding approval, the NHS may still lack the infrastructure to deliver them. Some medicines require regular infusions, and Freddie warned that the NHS currently does not have enough infusion capacity to meet potential demand.

Commenting on this, Freddie added:

“The truth is the NHS cannot yet cope with the innovation we all want in dementia. My message to the government is simple. Get ready.”

He concluded by calling for national leadership and an end to the government’s tendency to shift responsibility to local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

“It is not the ICBs the public are angry with when they cannot access treatment. It is the government. People expect the Government to take responsibility. Not pass the buck.”