Over 10,000 Celesio UK employees have become Dementia Friends with more than 60 per cent of people working in LloydsPharmacy having completed the training, Celesio UK has announced.

Celesio UK, parent company of LloydsPharmacy and AAH Pharmaceuticals, has been corporate partners to Alzheimer’s Society since 2015, and has pledged to make all employees Dementia Friends in a bid to increase knowledge and gain greater understanding of those living with the condition.

Cormac Tobin, managing director of Celesio UK, said: “We have been supporters of the Dementia Friends movement for a number of years now and I am exceedingly proud of the way my colleagues have embraced the initiative. I believe as healthcare professionals direct in the community we are ideally placed to support those with dementia.”

With the inclusion of the Dementia Friends initiative in the Quality Payments scheme in mind, Mr Tobin added: “I think it’s great that the government is putting so much emphasis on the initiative within the pharmacy setting. Becoming Dementia Friends is a great way of showcasing what community pharmacy can do in supporting a specific health condition; where pharmacy can really add value for patients.

“Although the cuts are hitting the sector hard, this is one initiative we at LloydsPharmacy were behind from the start. I look forward to achieving a position where every colleague in our business is a Dementia Friend. Imagine the difference we can then make to our patients, our patients’ family and anyone else impacted by this terrible condition.”