Southwark Mental Health in Learning Disability Dementia Pathway Service Development

This project aims to develop our dementia pathway, which includes diagnostic assessments and management, to better align with the national guidelines updated by the British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2025. One important recommendation from this guidance is that people with Down Syndrome should be offered baseline dementia assessments before they develop symptoms so that earlier interventions can be implemented. Not all people with Down Syndrome are open to services currently so we do not have an accurate number of the total population with this diagnosis. We need data about how many people are diagnosed with Down Syndrome in Southwark, Lambeth, Croydon and Lewisham, including their demographics, to allow us to begin developing the service and to ensure the service will meet the needs of this population in alignment with national guidelines.