Nightingale Analytics Limited (NAL) is a company established to commercialise a decision support tool for the timely diagnosis of dementia which was created with the support of Innovate UK, the Northern Ireland Health Service and Ulster University.

Dementia was the No 1 cause of death in the UK before Covid-19 and is the only condition in the top 10 without a treatment a prevention or cure.

Currently there are 883,100 people diagnosed with dementia in the UK according to the November 2019 report from Alzheimer’s Society, with numbers expected to rise to 1 million by 2025 and 1.5m by 2050. Dementia currently costs the UK Economy £34.7bn p.a. growing to £94.1bn by 2040.

Although GP’s diagnose dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association Primary Care Physician Cognitive Assessment Survey (2019) report that they do not feel that they are adequately trained, and 99% of service users reporting cognitive decline are referred to specialists. It is crucial to diagnose Dementia in the early stages to promote optimal management.

There is no established assessment process consistently implemented across services. This can lead to delayed diagnosis, with potential adverse impacts on the person and their carers and additional cost to health services. The challenges are to standardise assessments, increase accuracy of diagnosis tools, avoid unnecessary and potentially stressful referrals to specialists and optimise time and cost.

We have addressed these challenges through the implementation of a configurable digital support tool for use in the timely diagnosis of dementia which currently undergoing trials within the NHS.

Our Dementia Assessment Application captures demographic information and dementia assessment data. The algorithm uses this information to make a prediction about diagnosis. This had been refined with feedback from clinical specialists ensuring it is fit for purpose.

We have combined these elements to deliver a single digital service that can be utilised within GP practices or specialist Memory Services clinics/