Pinderfield Hospital Dementia Unit
The new look ward at Pinderfield Hospital, which can accommodate up to 41 patients in total, is the result of months of hard work by specialists to create a better environment for hospital patients, particularly those living with dementia.
The team is also proud to showcase the reminiscence room, complete with 1960s-style flower power mural, retro furniture and memory boxes with artefacts to help stimulate conversations and evoke happy memories.
Anita Ruckledge, lead nurse for dementia care at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are really proud of the work that has taken place to make this a better place to receive care.
“The first thing that people will see as they enter the ward will be the blue Forget Me Not flower mural by our reception desk. This flower is everywhere, even on the glass panes in our doors and windows.”
The flower is the symbol of the Trust’s Forget Me Not campaign launched in January this year. In this initiative, the trust has pledged to provide the best possible care for people living with dementia at the Trust’s three hospitals.
Anita said: “We have improved the signage on the ward, for example to the bathrooms, and we have created colour-coded zones to make it easier for our patients to find their way around the ward.”
The pictures on display throughout the unit are of scenes from Yorkshire – where many patients will have been born and spent much of their lives. These pictures have been chosen by patients as well as local charities who have also given help and advice in developing this new environment.
The reminiscence room is based around a 1950s and 1960s theme – around the childhoods and teenage years of many people who will be treated at the hospital’s elderly medicine wards. The room features a mural by Yorkshire-based artist Joanna Perry, depicting a British seaside among other flower power scenes such as a psychedelic camper van and The Beatles in their Sergeant Pepper days.
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Anita said: “I spoke to people about how they remembered those decades and they told me they thought of going to the beach, Punch and Judy shows and ice creams. This is what we have incorporated into this mural.”
Earlier this year the Trust launched a competition for people to suggest items for memory boxes of 1950s and 1960s memorabilia to help patients recall happy and key memories from their past. These boxes will now take pride of place in this room.