Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) admitted that it must do more to tackle dementia in the borough following a council scrutiny report.

Representatives from the body said dementia “continues to be a priority” going forward as it seeks to meet challenging targets across the board.

Cllrs Vina Mithani and Chris Mote, who were involved in the report, said they were pleased with the CCG’s response but stressed that it is important to ensure any promises are acted upon.

As well as a failure to meet the diagnosis rate of 67 per cent, both councillors criticised a “lack of information” for those in Harrow who are affected by dementia.

Cllr Mote said: “When it comes to information for people, it’s just not there. We need to find a simple way forward for people with dementia and the whole system has to be looked at.”

He pointed out that, on the council website, it took 19 clicks for him to find the relevant information about dementia. This issue, he assured his colleagues, is being dealt with.

Cllr Mithani agreed that there must be “better signposting” and various groups should “work more closely with the CCG”.

The CCG noted that it has fallen short in terms of diagnosis rates and aims to bring it up to the Prime Minister’s target of at least two-thirds by 2020.

Lennie Dick, from Harrow CCG, said he appreciated that it “needs to put more resources” behind the subject and, when making comparisons with neighbouring Brent, referred to its much bigger team.

But, in addition to the diagnosis targets, the CCG said it is important to look at the treatment and support for people with dementia and those caring for them.

Dr Dilip Patel agreed with Cllr Mote’s observation that there is a difference between health care and nursing care and said it is important to focus on quality of life.

He said: “We are doing a lot of work on this and looking at how we can make sure that people with dementia still enjoy their time on this planet.

“We want to give them a good quality of life and dignity in death. We have challenges; there is no doubt about that. But we can work with other organisations to address these.

“Diagnosis is important, but post-diagnosis is where we should also set our standards.”