UK Backs Dementia Diagnostics With Up to £80 Million Innovation Programme

London, 2 October 2026 – The United Kingdom is committing up to £80 million to accelerate dementia diagnosis through a staged programme that will test nine technologies in the National Health Service, aiming to shorten waiting times and move effective tools toward deployment from 2029. The initiative targets a system in which only about 60% of patients currently receive a diagnosis within 18 weeks, against a national ambition of 92%.

The selected technologies span imaging, artificial intelligence, blood testing, remote cognitive assessment and sensor-based monitoring. One MRI approach is designed to cut scan time to about seven minutes from roughly 20 minutes. Other projects include an AI tool intended to assess disease progression, a remote cognitive test that can be completed in around 15 minutes and blood-based methods that could help identify patients who need further specialist assessment.