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Becoming a Dementia Friend

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Becoming a Dementia Friend

With the announcement of quality payments for pharmacy, Joanne Taylor explores how becoming a Dementia Friend can help both your pharmacy and your community

The quality payments for community pharmacy have been introduced and pharmacy contractors are looking at how they can meet their targets in order to get the payments they are entitled to. One way to earn these payments is for pharmacy staff to become Dementia Friends.

In the pharmacy where I work, all staff members have become Dementia Friends. This scheme is about giving people an understanding of dementia and the little things that could make a difference to people living with the condition. It has been developed by the Alzheimer’s Society and is supported by Public Health England (PHE), forming part of the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2020. 

There are two ways for people to become a Dementia Friend: the first is to attend a face-to-face information session, and the second, and probably the most accessible, is to watch an online video. The members of our team did the latter and then received an information booklet about how to put the learning into practice with simple hints and tips. This could be something like helping and supporting friends and relatives living with dementia or supporting patients with dementia and their carers who present in the pharmacy.

There may be a Dementia Action Alliance in your area, which may provide the information sessions. Your local CPPE and LPC may also organise events so that pharmacy professionals are able to attend networking and training meetings on the subject.

Pharmacy contractors who wish to achieve the quality payments standard must make sure staff members who work in patient-facing roles – whether they are pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensary staff, counter assistants or delivery drivers – all become Dementia Friends. This will ensure that the pharmacy meets the quality payments requirement of at least 80 per cent of pharmacy staff in patient-facing roles being Dementia Friends on the day of the review. This includes locums, so contractors should encourage all temporary staff, including locum pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, to become Dementia Friends. 

Details of who has completed the training must be kept for audit and payment purposes, and a record sheet is available to download from the PSNC website for this purpose. When staff become Dementia Friends, they should also keep their certificates and any letters they receive as evidence of compliance with the quality payments criteria. This can include the booklet and dementia friend badge if the online training is completed.

So if you haven’t already, why not become a Dementia Friend? It’s really easy and will benefit both your pharmacy and your patients. And don’t forget to log the learning on your CPD record and look for ways you can help people who are living with dementia in your area.

Joanne is a registered pharmacy technician and ACPT. She is national secretary for the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK), and is a member of the Medicines Rebalancing Programme Board at the Department of Health as well as TM’s editorial advisory panel.

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