Quality Payments – Dementia Friends

Community pharmacy contractors passing the gateway criteria will receive aQuality Paymentif they meet one or more of the Quality Payment criteria. The Department of Health has weighted these based on an assessment of the difficulty of achieving them and the benefit to patients for doing so, with each criterion being designated a number of points.

One of the Quality Payment criteria is:

‘On the day of the review, 80% of all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles are trained ‘Dementia Friends’.

Quality Payment criterion points and value

The value of this Quality Payment criterion is as follows:

Number of review points at which it can be claimed / Two
Points at any one review point / 5
Total points over the two review points / 10
Value of total points / £640

Dementia Friends

TheDementia Friendsinitiative is about giving people an understanding ofdementiaand the small things that could make a difference to people living with dementia in their community. It has been developed by theAlzheimer’s Society, is supported by Public Health England (PHE) and forms part of thePrime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia.

How to achieve this Quality Payment criterion

There are various routes by which people can become a Dementia Friend:

For organisations

  • watch a minimum of two shortonline videos via your online code (register your organisationto receive the online code); or
  • attend a face-to-faceDementia Friends Information Session (to request a session for your pharmacy team please ).

For individuals

  • watch a shortonline video; or
  • attend a face-to-faceDementia Friends Information Session.

The Alzheimer’s Society would prefer a pharmacy to register with Dementia Friends through the ‘organisation route’; however, many pharmacy staff including locums, may already have become Dementia Friends through the ‘individual route’. There is no need to become a Dementia Friend again through the ‘organisation route’ for this Quality Payment criterion.

Step by step instructions for each route are outlined inPSNC Briefing 073/16: Quality Payments – How to become a Dementia Friend

Dementia Friends Information Sessions are run by volunteer Dementia Friends Champions, who are trained and supported by the Alzheimer’s Society. Each Information Session lasts around one hour. Participants will learn more about dementia and how they can help to create dementia friendly communities. There are Information Sessions running across England.

If you want to find out more ways to work towards becoming dementia friendly there is aDementia Action Alliance in your area; they may offer to work with your LPC and local pharmacies to provide Dementia Friends Information Sessions.

It is advisable that contractors seeking to achieve this criterion should aim to ensure that all staff who work in roles where they deal with patients (e.g. pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensary staff, counter assistants and delivery drivers) become Dementia Friends. The requirement for this QP criterion is that at least 80% of pharmacy staff in patient facing roles are Dementia Friends on the day of the review; this includes locums, so contractors should encourage temporary staff, such as locum pharmacists, to become Dementia Friends.

PSNC has created a record sheet which contractors can choose to use to keep a record of their staff members and temporary staff, such as locums, that have become Dementia Friends.

Dementia Friends Record Sheet (Word)

Dementia Friends Record Sheet (PDF)

Frequently asked questions

Further FAQs on Dementia Friends can be found on theDementia Friends website.

Q.How do I become a Dementia Friend?

here are various routes by which people can become a Dementia Friend:

For organisations

  • watch a minimum of two shortonline videos via your online code (register your organisationto receive the online code); or
  • attend a face-to-faceDementia Friends Information Session (to request a session for your pharmacy team please ).

For individuals

  • watch a shortonline video; or
  • attend a face-to-faceDementia Friends Information Session.

The Alzheimer’s Society would prefer a pharmacy to register with Dementia Friends through the ‘organisation route’; however, many pharmacy staff including locums, may already have become Dementia Friends through the ‘individual route’. There is no need to become a Dementia Friend again through the ‘organisation route’ for this Quality Payment criterion.

Q. Are part-time staff included in the Quality Payment criterion ‘On the day of the review, 80% of all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles are trained Dementia Friends?’
Yes. This Quality Payment criterion applies to all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles. The number of hours a member of staff is employed for is not relevant for this Quality Payment criterion.

Q. One of the Quality Payments criterion states that at least 80% of pharmacy staff in patient facing roles are Dementia Friends on the day of the review; does this include locums?
Yes. The 80% of pharmacy staff in patient facing roles includes locums, so contractors should encourage temporary staff, such as locum pharmacists, to become Dementia Friends.