This guidance has been commissioned by the Strategic Clinical Network for Mental Health, Dementia, and Neurological Conditions (South West) as a resource for prescribers to support and inform prescribing of anti-dementia drugs, and to inform the design of dementia diagnosis and post-diagnosis pathways.

Download Guidance on initiating the Prescribing of Donepezil 
in Primary Care

This guidance assumes that:

• Donepezil will only be initiated in primary care within its licenced indication i.e. for the symptomatic treatment of mild to moderately severe Alzheimer’s dementia.
• The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease has been adequately confirmed according to current clinical guidelines or locally agreed pathways.
• The initiating clinician is competent in the application and interpretation of appropriate assessments of cognitive, functional and behavioural symptoms.
• A recent assessment of the patient’s dementia is available as a treatment baseline.