Dementia diagnosis challenge

£80m challenge to speed up dementia diagnosis

Nine new technologies, from faster MRI brain scans to a 15-minute cognitive test you can take at home, are to be trialled in the NHS as part of an £80 million government drive to diagnose dementia sooner and more accurately.

The Dementia Challenge, announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on 2 October 2026, aims for 92% of people to receive a diagnosis within 18 weeks of being referred. At present only around 60% are diagnosed within that time, and many people wait more than a year.

 

 

Why early diagnosis matters

Dementia is now the leading cause of death in the UK, accounting for almost one in eight deaths. More than 72,000 people across the UK died from dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, in 2025.

According to Alzheimer’s Society, around one in three people living with dementia in the UK do not have a diagnosis at any one time. Without one, people can miss out on treatment, support and the chance to take part in research.

A timely diagnosis can also give people and their families the time to make informed decisions about work, care, money and legal matters such as power of attorney, while they are still able to take part fully in those decisions. UKRI says earlier diagnosis can also reduce emergency hospital admissions and delay the need for more intensive care, easing pressure on NHS services.

 

A “fail-fast” approach

Unlike UKRI’s traditional model of awarding a single grant for a long-term project, the Dementia Challenge will only keep funding projects that hit their milestones and show real results. The idea is that what works reaches patients faster, and money is not tied up in ideas that are not delivering.

UKRI is working with industry, universities, the NHS, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Health Innovation Network, charities and people with lived experience of dementia to deliver the programme.

 

The nine projects

• University College London and UK Dementia Research Institute – cutting MRI brain scan times from around 20 minutes to around seven, so more patients can be scanned at lower cost and with a better experience.
• University of Exeter – bringing a digital platform into the NHS that lets people keep track of changes in their memory and thinking, so they are seen at the right time.
• UK Dementia Research Institute Care Research & Technology Centre at Imperial College London – a home-monitoring system called Minder, which uses discreet sensors around the home linked to artificial intelligence to support earlier intervention and more personalised care.
• University of Oxford and Dementias Platform UK – introducing a panel of blood tests for dementia markers into routine NHS memory services to improve diagnostic accuracy.
• Cognitron – a 15-minute remote digital cognitive assessment designed to make diagnosis quicker, more accurate and easier to access.
• University of Bristol – routine screening for sleep apnoea, and better access to treatment, for everyone referred to a memory assessment service, since untreated sleep problems can affect the accuracy of a dementia diagnosis.
• Queen Mary University of London – a digital tool that checks how the brain processes sound, using nothing more than a standard home computer and headphones.
• University of Cambridge – an AI-enabled decision support tool that analyses routine data such as medical records, blood tests and memory test results to predict how dementia may progress in people at risk.
• University of Edinburgh and NHS Research Scotland – redesigning Scotland’s dementia diagnosis and treatment services to make them faster and more consistent across the country, along with “living labs” to test new biomarkers and treatments.

Several of these projects build on home-based and digital approaches, in a similar spirit to the telecare and telehealth technology many people already use to stay safe and independent at home.

 

Science Minister Chris McDonald said:

“Dementia is a desperately cruel condition, robbing sufferers of their memories and family of precious time with their loved ones. This work by brilliant UK researchers could be transformative in getting people the early treatment they need.”

 

Andy Hill, Health Mission Challenge Director at UKRI, said:

“By developing better diagnostic and prognostic tools, we can help people living with dementia understand and manage their symptoms, get earlier access to treatment and plan for their futures. That will mean better lives for people living with dementia and for their family and carers.”

 

Charities welcome the investment, with a call for more

Dementia charities have broadly welcomed the programme. Alzheimer’s Society, which is supporting the challenge, described it as a potential game changer, but urged the government to go further by introducing a national 18-week target from referral to diagnosis.

Dr Richard Oakley, Associate Director of Research and Innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

“Now the Government must match this ambition by introducing a national 18-week target from referral to diagnosis.”

Alzheimer’s Research UK highlighted that speed matters even more now that new medicines are emerging, since they tend to work best in the early stages of the disease.

Hilary Evans-Newton CBE, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“Too many families wait more than a year for a dementia diagnosis. This is about changing that, and fast.”

In Scotland, Alzheimer Scotland welcomed the role of the University of Edinburgh and NHS Research Scotland in delivering faster, more consistent diagnosis north of the border.

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said:

“This is an important step towards the high-quality dementia care pathway that people with dementia, their families and carers deserve.”

Thomas, from Dorset, who has personal experience of dementia in his family and helped with the challenge’s application process, said the current wait for a diagnosis takes away valuable time people need to arrange support, consider medical options and deal with legal matters.

 

Find out more

Read the full announcement on the UKRI website (external link will open in a new browser tab or window), and more about the Dementia Research and Innovation Challenge (external link will open in a new browser tab or window).

If you are worried about your own memory, or that of someone close to you, the first step is to speak to your GP, who can refer you to a local memory assessment service.

 

Article ends – click to return to top or check out related resources below

Further reading and resources

Dementia & Cognitive Impairment
Government-backed dementia research
Longitude Prize on Dementia
Alzheimer’s Disease Atlas
Telecare & Telehealth
All our dementia news and guides

Make sure you don’t miss out on news from Independent Living

return to top