A ‘pioneering’ new £1 million, 21-bedded ward at Warrington Hospital is ‘leading the way in providing the best quality care’ for hospital patients with dementia.
The ‘Forget Me Not ward’ features design elements including its own ‘mock’ bus stop, a lounge area with traditional-looking fireplace, a ‘quiet room’ with a ‘1960s-style’ television, and a special dementia garden area. Everything is designed to provide relaxation and stimulation for patients needing hospital care, but who also have dementia.
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was one of the largest beneficiaries from a £50 million national fund released by the Department of Health last year for dementia care environments. The new ward has been designed to provide a calm, relaxing care environment using state-of-the-art design principles, colour, and light.
Each bay and cubicle has a unique pastel colour scheme, with the bay doors the same colour as the feature walls to help patients identify where they are. Bays also have their own nursing stations.
Artwork also plays a key role. Warrington artist, Anthony Turk, has created a large mural of a bus stop on Buttermarket Street in Warrington in the early 1980s with buildings from that era, including the Odeon Cinema (demolished in 1994), and a bus going to Bewsey in the town. The concept behind the bus stop – which has two cinema-style seats – is that it is ‘a safe place’, and one of many ‘reminiscing tools’ throughout the ward.
A competition saw local amateur photographs capture local scenes to help patients reminisce, and their works don the walls, with pictures next to each bed. The dining room / lounge area has its own fireplace and traditional dining room seating area to create a more homely environment for patients to get together to eat and chat with staff.
En suite facilities are provided on all three bays, with all bathroom facilities fully accessible, with low-level access showers.
Other features include calendar clocks showing the year and date in every bedded area, LED mood lighting, and social seating for patients away from their beds. Along the corridor a ‘quiet room’ broadcasts local film and images from the 1960s.
Outside, a secure garden area with raised planters, a gazebo, bench seating, rotating washing line, and a planted wheelbarrow, is fully accessible for wheelchair users.
The Trust worked closely with the King’s Fund, dementia groups, and patient champions, to design the ward.
