The Trust is planning a series of refits using features proven to have a calming influence or can help avoid confusion.
Ward 8 at South Tyneside Hospital is the first to be completed. It was used during the pandemic as an Intensive Care Unit, but was freed up after a tailor-made £3m replacement was set up on its ground floor.
Now it has become a Care of the Elderly ward, with a host of design choices made to make a stay a better one for older patients.
They include:
- Walls painted in pastel colours to create a calm environment
- Diffused lighting to reduce shadows, which can cause people to trip or cause upset if someone is experiencing hallucinations
- Colour-coded bays which are blue on one side and green on the other, helping patients identify their own bed more easily if they are returning to their space
- Toilet doors painted in bright yellow, with images added so those who struggle with words know where to find the loo
- Entrances to each room or bay are painted their own colour and are numbered to help guide people to where they are recuperating.
- Doors to staff areas and the rooms beyond are painted white, so they blend in with the main corridor.
The dementia-friendly design has been led by Chris Cairns, the Trust’s Nurse Consultant for Older Persons.
He worked alongside CHoICE, the Trust’s subsidiary which runs its facilities, as the estates team worked on the transformation of the previously white-beige ward.
He said: “We’ve worked hard to incorporate many features into the refit of this ward, putting research into practice to help keep them safe.
“We know staying in hospital, which is somewhere unfamiliar and can be quite busy, is an unsettling time for anyone if they’re feeling unwell or recovering from an injury or surgery.
“We know it’s extra hard for those who have dementia, are experiencing delirium or maybe struggle to see or hear as well as they once did. Now it will be very clear which areas are for them.
“Even something as simple as being able to say to someone, ‘Your bed is in the green area’ will be much easier for them to understand than if we point to numbers or words.
“We’ve already used diffuse lighting in other areas and we know it helps because patients don’t think they’re going to trip over what is really a shadow or think it’s something it’s not if they are experiencing delirium.
“Now the ward is finished, I think it looks really good, it’s bright, modern and will be a real asset to our Trust. Most of all, it will make a difference to our patients.”
