New £1m ward for hospital

A £1 million specialist ward for patients with dementia is to be created at Warrington Hospital – transforming care for local patients.
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust successfully bid for the money from a £50 million national fund released by the Department of Health for dementia care pilots.
The Trust’s bid was one of the largest approved in the scheme and it is hoped to start work immediately with the ward opening next spring.
An existing ward in the Burtonwood Wing at the hospital will be completely redesigned and revamped to provide a dedicated setting for care of patients with dementia.
The design will provide a calming and relaxing environment for their care using state of the art design principles, use of colour and light.
Alongside the ward accommodation, a new garden area will be created especially designed for these patients to provide relaxation and stimulation. The funding will also provide a new care room in accident and emergency at the hospital to provide a calmer environment for patients with dementia in an emergency.
Dementia is a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities that affects about 800,000 people in the UK – and the number is expected to grow. The condition usually occurs in people over the age of 65. It can include problems with memory loss, mental agility, language, understanding and judgment.
People with dementia can become apathetic or uninterested in their usual activities, and have problems controlling their emotions. They may also find social situations challenging, lose interest in socialising, and aspects of their personality may change.
This means that patients with dementia who need hospital care have particular needs that are not always best suited to general medical wards. They often become frightened in new environments, but good design can help reduce that.
The new ward will also allow the hospital to focus specialist staff in one place to care for the increased needs of the patients. It will
provide care for patients who come in with a range of medical conditions, but who have dementia.
Mel Pickup, chief executive at Warrington and Halton Hospitals, said:
“We’re absolutely delighted to have secured this funding. It will allow us to completely transform the care environment for this group of patients in our hospitals. Dementia is not something that is going to go away. Anyone who has a family member with dementia will know of the difficulty it can cause. We can play our part by making sure
these patients get our high quality, safe care in the right environment. This £1 million ward will allow us to do this.”
The funding follows other capital developments the trust has successfully bid for in recent months.
A £450,000 refurbishment of the labour ward at Warrington was completed earlier this year and the trust took over the Cheshire and Merseyside Treatment Centre in Runcorn and now provides its planned orthopaedic surgery at the centre.