Bradford Hospitals Welcome German Healthcare Experts

Friday, 8 April 2016 11:20

Healthcare experts from Germany will this week see how the city’s hospital wards have been transformed to care for patients with dementia.

The group, which includes 23 experienced nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, matrons and managers from the University of Witten / Herdecke will visit Bradford Royal Infirmary this Friday (April 8) to hear from staff and view the dementia-friendly environments that have been created on wards 23 and 29.

University officials contacted the Trust after hearing about its work which has been at the forefront of transforming its public areas and wards for people from across the district who live with this debilitating condition.

Lead nurse for dementia, Danielle Woods, said: “We’re really looking forward to playing host to the group and showing them the improvements we have made for the benefit of our patients.

“The provision of high quality, personalised care for patients with dementia is a key priority for us and it is a real challenge for hospitals and their staff across the world, as being an inpatient can be very difficult for someone with dementia as it can cause great anxiety and disorientation.

“Here in Bradford we are determined to continuously improve the healing environment and to adapt our surroundings, as best we can, to cater for patients’ needs, as we believe this will improve the quality of their lives, as well as those of their families and carers.”

In 2014, St. Luke's Hospital, became the first in the country to transform all its public areas to ensure they were dementia-friendly. The nationally acclaimed ‘Enhancing the Healing Environment’ project which had a theme of “Yorkshire at its Best” also saw the addition of two tranquil gardens which were created as part of the £513,000 Department of Health-backed scheme.

Bespoke lighting and artwork were added to the main corridors and its stairwells to create a more calming space aimed to influence patient behaviour.

This followed on from the Foundation Trust’s first-ever dementia project in 2011 when it unveiled new facilities on wards 23 and 29 of the Bradford Royal Infirmary, as part of a half a million pounds landmark project which saw the creation of unique, healing environments for people with dementia.

Art, film, colour and touch were introduced to provide dementia patients and their carers with an environment that provided relaxation, independence and better orientation, as well as encouraging stimulation to make hospital stays as comfortable as possible for those who suffer from this debilitating condition.

Memory boxes were positioned above each patient bed, cinema chairs installed in the corridors along with projector screens playing the likes of old Carry On movies and footage from Bradford film archives. Large photographs of Yorkshire scenes were also placed on the corridor walls to aid reminiscence.

The German visitors will take time out of their busy schedule to tour the hospital and hear presentations in the Bradford Royal Infirmary’s Sovereign Lecture Theatre on how to become ‘dementia-friendly’, the different models of dementia care and the creation of a calming, patient environment.

Speakers will include the Trust’s clinical lead for dementia, senior lecturer and honorary consultant, Dr Andrew Clegg, head of patient experience, Shelley Bailey, and professor of dementia studies at the University of Bradford, Murna Downs.

Others involved in giving presentations are consultant geriatricians Dr Alison McMurtry and Dr Tizzy Teale, head of nursing for medicine Sarah Freeman, matron for elderly care, Jill Clayton, estates and facilities programme manager, Shane Embleton, Christian chaplain and dementia champion Joe Fielder, along with voluntary services co-ordinator and fellow dementia champion Mary Taylor.