‘I have real hope we can defeat dementia’ – PM unveils £48m research drive to accelerate treatments
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Andy Burnham
Thursday 08 October 2026
amilies affected by dementia could benefit from faster access to clinical trials and the development of new treatments under a £48 million UK-wide research partnership being unveiled by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The initiative aims to overcome one of the biggest obstacles in dementia research – finding enough volunteers to test promising new medicines – while giving more people the opportunity to contribute to the search for effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
Nearly one million people are living with dementia across the UK, with the condition placing enormous emotional, practical and financial pressures on families and unpaid carers.
£48 million partnership to accelerate research
The Government is committing £33 million through the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, with a further £15 million coming from pharmaceutical companies Bristol Myers Squibb and GSK, alongside Gates Ventures.
The funding will support the BARBARA Alliance, a UK-wide not-for-profit partnership bringing together researchers, healthcare organisations, charities, industry and people with personal experience of dementia.
Its flagship BARBARA programme will establish a co-ordinated platform connecting health information, research organisations and clinical trial services, making it easier to identify suitable participants and help people access studies.
Researchers hope the approach will reduce delays in testing new treatments, allowing promising scientific discoveries to progress more quickly towards clinical use.
Prime Minister calls for a cure
Speaking ahead of the Innovation Nation Summit, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said dementia must no longer be regarded simply as an unavoidable consequence of growing older.
He said:
“Dementia is a devastatingly cruel disease, not only for those who live with it, but for the families who care for them. For too long, we have accepted dementia as something to be managed later in life, rather than a disease we can defeat. I don’t accept that. In fact, I have real hope that we can come together and do exactly that.”
Setting out his ambition for the research programme, he added:
“I want Britain to be the country that makes the breakthrough and delivers the cure for dementia the world has been waiting for. That is why I am making dementia research a national priority - by backing the NHS, universities, researchers and industry to drive the breakthroughs we desperately need.”
Although the investment represents a significant commitment to research, it does not mean a cure has been discovered or that new treatments will become immediately available. Any potential medicines will still need to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness through clinical trials and regulatory assessment.
More opportunities to take part in dementia research
A central aim of the programme is to make dementia research more accessible to ordinary people, including those who have never previously participated in a clinical study.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, more than 90% of people affected by dementia surveyed by the charity said they would like the opportunity to contribute to research.
Hilary Evans-Newton CBE, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK and Chair of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, said:
“We know that people affected by dementia want the opportunity to be part of the search for better treatments. More than 90% we’ve surveyed told us they would like to take part in research, helping to shape a better future for everyone affected by the condition.”
She added:
“By tackling the barriers to dementia research and speeding up recruitment to clinical trials, this funding will help more people contribute to breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment.”
How people can volunteer for research
People aged 18 and over can register their interest in dementia research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research's Join Dementia Research service.
Importantly, volunteers do not need to have dementia, memory difficulties or an existing diagnosis to express an interest.
• Who can register: Anyone aged 18 or over, including people without dementia or memory concerns.
• What participation involves: Opportunities to be considered for suitable dementia research studies, depending on individual eligibility and the research available.
• How to get involved: Visit the Join Dementia Research service at https://www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk/
Registering an interest does not guarantee a place in a clinical trial or access to an experimental treatment.
The announcement describes the new BARBARA Alliance as UK-wide, although further detail on how its recruitment arrangements will operate specifically in Northern Ireland has not been provided.
Health data to support new discoveries
Dementia will also become one of the first priorities for the Government's new Health Data Research Service, which is being developed with funding of up to £600 million from the Government and the Wellcome Trust.
The service is intended to connect NHS and research information from across the UK within a secure system accessible to approved researchers.
Currently, valuable health information is held across different organisations and computer systems, making it more difficult for scientists to identify suitable research participants and understand how diseases develop.
Bringing that information together could help researchers design more effective studies, recruit volunteers more quickly and identify patterns that contribute to dementia.
The Health Data Research Service will complement the BARBARA Alliance, with one providing research information and the other helping connect potential participants with clinical studies.
The enormous cost of dementia
The Government estimates that dementia costs the UK more than £42 billion annually, including approximately £7 billion in NHS costs.
Much of the wider financial burden falls on social care services and unpaid carers, including relatives who provide daily support to loved ones living with the condition.
Around one in two people are expected to be affected by dementia during their lifetime, whether through developing the condition themselves, caring for someone with dementia, or both.
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
“This cruel disease has done so much damage to families across our country, and for too long we have lacked the tools to fight back. This investment will help us turn the tide on dementia, helping us to speed up diagnosis, accelerate research and give more people the chance to take part in trials that could transform their futures.”
She also pledged that dementia would be a central priority in the Government's proposed National Care Service.
Wider plans for dementia diagnosis and care
The research investment follows the launch of UK Research and Innovation's £80 million Dementia Challenge, which will test nine technologies within the NHS.
These include faster MRI brain scans and remote assessments of memory and thinking abilities, designed to improve diagnosis and reduce the time patients wait for answers.
The programme aims to increase the proportion of patients receiving a diagnosis within 18 weeks of referral from approximately 60% to 92%, although achieving that target will depend on the success and wider adoption of the technologies being tested.
Separately, the Government is developing plans for a National Care Service that would provide a basic level of free personal care for older people, including assistance with washing, dressing, eating and personal hygiene.
Baroness Casey has been asked to make recommendations on how and when the proposed service should be established, with public consultation and cross-party discussions forming part of that work.
The social care proposals are not yet an established entitlement, and the announcement does not confirm how any future arrangements would apply in Northern Ireland, where health and social care are devolved.
Hope for families facing dementia
For people living with dementia and those caring for them, the significance of the new partnership lies in the possibility of turning scientific progress into treatments that could make a meaningful difference to everyday life.
The BARBARA Alliance will now work to connect researchers with more potential volunteers, while the wider investment in health data and diagnostic technologies seeks to improve how dementia is identified, studied and treated.
A cure remains an ambition rather than an immediate prospect, but the programme offers families a practical opportunity to contribute to research that could change the experience of dementia for future generations.
