The National Audit Office has stressed that dementia services across England have failed to get the priority status that was promised and they deserve, and the body has urged the Department of Health to put into constructive action the dementia strategy that it had published last year, and not just leave it in words.

Under the department's plans, it promised to try and boost early diagnosis and better support for both patients and careers. While praising the ambition and outlook, the NAO asked whether it can be deliver, and when.

While welcoming the report and the concerns raised by it Care Services Minister Phil Hope stressed that the implementation was well on track and would soon start reflecting results.

"We are in the first year of our ambitious five years National Dementia Strategy - change will not happen immediately. There is still much more to be done and we are working hard to put the plans outlined in the strategy into place", he said.

The NAO report has called the dementia strategy of the department "comprehensive and ambitious", while also stressing that to achieve the sought "transformation" in services would prove to be challenging.