How you can make a massive difference to the lives of Bolton dementia sufferers

For many of us, a stay on an unfamiliar hospital ward is a daunting experience.

But for someone with dementia, a visit to the Royal Bolton can be confusing and frightening — potentially causing stress, anxiety and even falls.

Bolton NHS Charitable Fund’s new campaign – Donate £1 for Dementia – hopes to change this.

The appeal, launched with the support of The Bolton News, will pay for wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital to be made more "dementia friendly".

When someone with dementia visits a hospital’s medical or surgical wards they are there to be treated for their condition — whether a hip injury or a chest infection — not for their dementia.

As medical awareness has increased, there is now far more understanding of the importance of making a dementia sufferer’s environment more comforting, familiar and easy to use.

Your £1 will provide those added extras; things NHS funding will not cover, but which will make a hospital stay a far better experience for patients with dementia.

This includes special equipment allowing brighter or softer lighting at different times, and a 1960s-themed communal lounge for patients to sit and talk in.

Hospital staff also plan to install dementia-friendly signs to help patients remember where their hospital bed is and how to get to the toilet.

Bathrooms will be fitted with different coloured toilet seats and handrails — as dementia sufferers can find it hard to distinguish between different white objects — and there will be memory-prompting boxes and nostalgic pictures.

Charitable fundraiser Andy Lee said: "People with dementia can be confused or frightened by coming into a strange environment such as a hospital.

"They can easily get lost and wander or fall.

"Although they haven’t come to hospital because of their dementia, we want to make their stay as stress-free as possible.

"This will also help their recovery from the condition they came in with and make their hospital stay less worrying for their relatives."

Initially, the fundraising will pay for ward C4 — a complex care ward — to be made a completely dementia-friendly environment.

This space will be the prototype so that when other wards and areas are chosen in the hospital’s ongoing refurbishment programme, they too can be made dementia friendly.

While Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is funded by central government, the charitable fund was launched to provide extras such as new equipment and staff training.

Heather Edwards, head of communications at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “NHS funding for hospitals is primarily to enable the treatment the condition or injury the patient has come in with.

“This appeal is to raise money for those extras which can make a big difference to the experience and wellbeing of patients with dementia.

“Anyone who has had a friend or family member with dementia in hospital will understand and appreciate this.”

Families, schools, businesses and groups across Bolton are being urged to donate at least £1 to the appeal.

Fundraisers can get involved with the campaign on social media by sharing a "pound selfie" of themselves holding a £1 coin using the hashtag #D14D.

The campaign’s logo, a giant £1 coin, will be rolling into locations across the borough over the next few weeks for people to take a selfie and make a donation.

It will be at Crompton Health Centre tomorrow, Breightmet Health Centre on Wednesday, Avondale Health Centre on Thursday and Bolton One on Friday between 11am and 4pm.

To give to the Donate £1 for Dementia campaign click here, or send a cheque to Charitable Funds Department, Dowling House, Royal Bolton Hospital, Minerva Road, Bolton, BL4 0JR.

Businesses that are considering a larger donation, are in need of fundraising ideas or want the giant £1 to visit an event can email andy.lee@boltonft.nhs.uk

For more information about Bolton NHS Charitable Fund go to boltonft.nhs.uk/get-involved/charitable-giving/, search Bolton NHS Charitable Fund on Facebook or follow @boltonnhsft on Twitter.