We are in the early stages of a project to understand the lived experience of the years immediately after dementia diagnosis. People with a new diagnosis are signposted to Dementia Navigators but there is no routine clinical follow-up. Our discussion with the Surrey Heartlands Dementia Strategy Board have indicated that they would welcome fresh insight into the lived experience of this stage – what support do people find, what is valuable and what is not, what opportunities are being missed to avoid people reaching crisis point?