GPs use blood tests for dementia but doubt they'll diagnose it in five years.

England plans to shift healthcare from hospitals into local communities. Soon, new dementia blood tests and disease-modifying treatments will arrive. These new tools could heavily impact general practitioners, who are local family doctors. Researchers wanted to know how ready these clinics are for these changes. They surveyed family doctors to see how they currently diagnose dementia and what they expect to handle in the future. Today, almost every surveyed doctor uses thinking tests and blood tests to spot dementia, but fewer can order brain scans directly. When looking ahead five years, most doctors doubt they will personally confirm formal dementia diagnoses or check if patients qualify for the new treatments. However, a majority believe they could realistically offer new blood biomarker tests and handle ongoing monitoring or prescribing for patients already taking the treatments. Doctors warned that a lack of resources, time, and training stand in the way.

Why it matters

England's 10 Year Health Plan wants to move dementia care out of hospitals and into the community, and new biomarker tests and disease-modifying treatments are on the way. But GPs are the first point of contact, and most say they won't be formally diagnosing dementia or assessing who qualifies for those treatments within five years. Without more time, staff and training, the people who need these advances may not get them.

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