THE Bank of Scotland has been named Scotland's first official Dementia Friendly Bank after working to raise awareness of the disease among its staff.
Through a partnership with the charity Alzheimer Scotland, the bank has trained staff to help them provide a better service to people with the disease and their families and carers and has also said it will work to improve practices on an ongoing basis.
From today branches of Bank of Scotland will start to display Dementia Friendly Bank window stickers to let customers and other people in that area know that their local branch is involved in the initiative.
Robin Bulloch, managing director of Bank of Scotland Community Bank, said: "Bank of Scotland wants to lead the way to help customers affected by dementia.
"By taking these positive steps and training our staff in dementia awareness, we aim to help make the day-to-day life easier for people with the condition and their carers."
Toni Gibson, manager of Bank of Scotland's branch in Dyce, Aberdeen, said: "My grandmother has had Alzheimer's disease for over 10 years. From a personal point of view, banking was incredibly difficult with my gran; there was no support from her bank and this led to many arguments and problems within the family.
"Money is a large worry to most people and when finance is outwith your control due to an illness, it can be extremely distressing for everyone involved."
Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, added: "We are absolutely delighted to be able to work so closely with Bank of Scotland in generating this model of Dementia-Friendly Banking."
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