The Friends of St Mary’s Hospital have responded to a plea to provide dementia-friendly items to the hospital’s Shackleton Ward.
A range of bright yellow plastic crockery, red toilet seats, jigsaws, specially designed clocks and other activity items have been Pprchased at a cost of £3,945.
Staff Nurse Tony Cole has said:
“We are very grateful to the Friends. These items help us to function better in caring for dementia patients in our secure ward.
“It has been found that food and liquids become increasingly less appealing with white crockery, as patients’ condition progresses.”
The Friends of St Mary’s are a registered charity which runs the café and shop in the hospital’s foyer, the Laidlaw Day Hospital and the Ryde Health and Wellbeing Centre – with the help of many volunteers. It also is takes newspapers, magazines and confectionery to the wards. Profits, together with donations and legacies, are used to purchase extra equipment and facilities for the NHS on the Island.
