NHS bosses in Wiltshire say they are making improvements to diagnosing dementia after finding patients waited up to 12 months.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that patients should wait no longer than six weeks for a formal diagnosis.

GP Magazine found that in 37 out of 97 Clinical Commiss-ioning Groups (CCGs), patients waited more than six weeks for a formal diagnosis. In Wiltshire, patients waited up to 12 months in 2012/13 because of a backlog in cases and delays to CT scans.

Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee, told GP magazine: “Waiting for this length of time with the fear of dementia hanging over you is unacceptable.”

The charity Alzheimer’s Support in Wiltshire has been campaigning on early diagnosis since it emerged that Wiltshire had one of the lowest rates about two years ago.

Stephany Bardzil, development and communications manager at Alzheimer’s Support, said the rate in Wiltshire is now 35 per cent.

She added: “Wiltshire CCG realise the seriousness of the problem.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire CCG said it was working with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) and Wiltshire Council to reduce waiting times by GP-led assessments aided by AWP specialist memory nurses.

The spokesman said: “This means that individuals will be assessed and provided with a timely diagnosis especially in the ‘at risk’ patient groups.”

l Alzheimer’s Support has received funding from Comic Relief for a project aimed at early diagnosis in east and west Wiltshire.

Memory awareness volunteers have been trained and will be attached to GP surgeries where they will be available once a fortnight or by arrangement to talk to anyone about memory issues.