£513,000 cash boost to make hospital ‘dementia-friendly’

Bradford Teaching Hospitals secured the government money to renovate St Luke’s hospital’s Horton Wing’s public areas.

Two years ago, the city’s other hospital, Bradford Royal Infirmary, unveiled a £540,000 project which saw two wards transformed for patients with dementia incorporating the use of art, film, colour and touch.

A revamped main entrance, new sensory gardens, artwork and de-cluttered corridors are among the improvements on their way at St Luke’s as part of the trust’s drive to create dementia-friendly surroundings.

Staff will hold an event at the rear Horton Wing entrance between 10am and 4pm on Tuesday to ask people for their ideas.

Other key elements of the project will include the addition of dementia-friendly signage, clocks and toilets, corridors in eye-catching colour schemes and a new purpose-built Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) area.

Head of nursing (medicine) Dawn Parkes said: “This new grant is fantastic news for St Luke’s and Bradford as it is another step on the way to us becoming a dementia-friendly city.”