Walsall hospital trustee wants dementia patients separated
Calls have been made for dementia patients to be kept on a separate ward at a Black Country hospital amid complaints they are being too noisy at night.
Bosses at Walsall Manor say a large proportion of all patients admitted to the hospital had dementia and sufferers would be spread throughout all wards because of different health issues.
Kathryn Halford, director of nursing at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, said there was an 'ongoing issue' with noise at night mainly being caused by patients with dementia and cognitive impairment.
She said a lot of work was being done to tackle the problem including making other patients aware of the issues associated around dementia.
But Nigel Summers, who is on the trust board, led calls for a specialist ward following a recent stint in hospital which he described as 'hell'.
He said: "Considering the problems dementia patients cause at night I am not sure a leaflet would have helped me in the middle of the night.
"I think we should have a dementia ward which could cater for the specialist requirements. It should be put back on the agenda.
"This was a surgical recovery area and the constant noise had a significant effect on myself.
"It does seem cruel in some respect that they are brought together but it is common in some trusts.
"It does allow to bring in specialist help.
"I just think rest is an important part of recovery and this is having a negative impact on patients."
Although Ms Halford spoke against the idea and said the dementia ward at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton was causing issues.
She said: "New Cross are finding that's a problem for them. They have only got 30 beds in the ward but significantly more patients with dementia.
"They are getting complaints from relatives of patients with dementia asking why they are not on the dementia ward.
"What we have being doing instead is developing 'butterfly bays'.
"Nearly all of our wards have patients with dementia and we have been moving them into these butterfly bays so they are nearest together.
"I would be reluctant to move towards a dementia ward.
"Although we have a lot of patients in the hospital with dementia most of them are actually admitted into the hospital with other issues and they need the specialist care on their specific wards which would not be available on a dementia ward."
