This leaves around 252,000 people with dementia undiagnosed, depriving them of support and treatment.

Dr Jeremy Isaacs, National Clinical Director for Dementia, NHS England, said: “Thanks to patients and families who have come forward and the hard work of NHS staff, we expect to soon have a record half a million people diagnosed with dementia.

“Getting a diagnosis of dementia is the first step in supporting people, with a wide range of NHS services that can help.

“NHS staff have been working hard to restore services with the number of people with a diagnosis increasing significantly over the past year, and now at record levels, but there is more work to do.”

He said the NHS is now “working to prepare for the arrival of a pipeline of potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s” which would mean setting up extra tests and services.

David Thomas, head of policy and public affairs at Alzheimer’s Research UKsaid: “It’s a testament to the hard work of the NHS and doctors that the number being diagnosed has improved over the last decade.”

However, he said it was “not sustainable” for the health service to cope with the pressure on it from an aging society without extra resources, including investment to develop blood tests for the disease.

Too many were already missing out on even the most basic help, he said.

“Currently a third of people with dementia fall through the cracks and won’t get a formal diagnosis. We wouldn’t accept this for any other condition, so we shouldn’t for dementia,” he says.

The figures show a sharp increase in diagnoses in recent years, with the latest figure of 497,233 diagnoses in England for October this year compared to 427,176 in October 2022, an increase of 16 per cent.

In recent months, the first two drugs to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease have been licensed for use in the UK.