Nationwide Building Society has laid out plans to place dementia clinics within its branches on high streets.
Specialist clinics will be trialled in Wiltshire before potentially being rolled out across Nationwide’s branches nationally.
According to the building society, the scheme will work to help 100,000 people across 200 Nationwide branches, including through funding 30 specialist nurses to tour its sites.
“By working with Dementia UK to fund more Admiral Nurses and turning our branches into dementia clinics, we’re helping to tackle the country’s leading cause of death,” Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie commented.
Roughly a million UK citizens have dementia, Nationwide noted, with the figure set to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
This comes as the UK tussles to meet the needs of an ageing population, with Nationwide moving to use branches for the service against a backdrop of declining footfall at high street banks.
Free appointments, providing health and financial support, will be available for both members and non-Nationwide customers, with the first clinics opening late last month.
“With the number of people living with dementia in the UK set to exceed one million in the next year, this timely partnership will be crucial as we increase our services and reach,” Dementia UK chief executive Hilda Hayo added.