Transforming mental health hospital care
Date published: 17 December 2022
The spacious and colourful ward area at the refurbished Ramsbottom ward
A local NHS trust has transformed mental health hospital wards for adults and older people, to improve care and provide the highest levels of privacy and dignity.
Mental health, learning disability and autism provider Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust runs 18 acute hospital wards across Oldham, Bury, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside.
Following a 2.5 year programme, all wards now offer single gender accommodation.
This means providing same gender sleeping areas, bathrooms, toilets, and communal areas.
All wards now provide care for a single type of mental health condition – functional (e.g. depression, anxiety or personality disorders) or organic (e.g. dementia or other neurological conditions).
This will allow staff to provide more specialist care that better meets patients’ needs.
As part of the improvements, £1.5m has been invested in replacing Pennine Care’s two remaining shared dormitory wards with single ensuite bedrooms.
Moorside ward, based at Rochdale’s Birch Hill Hospital, now has 18 bedrooms for women aged 18 to 65 years, with functional conditions.
Other improvements include a gym, therapy kitchen and lounge.
Ramsbottom ward, based at Bury’s Fairfield Hospital, has 10 bedrooms for women aged over 65 years, with organic conditions.
Patients are also benefitting from a sensory room, with colour changing lights and hand painted fireplace, nature themed relaxation areas, an assisted bathroom and new outdoor area.
Both projects also included a range of improvements to support staff wellbeing, including a staff room and changing facilities.
Laura Challis, Ramsbottom ward manager said: “We’re all delighted with the improvements.
“We can now carefully tailor our care and therapy for women with dementia and we’ve really seen a difference.
“The single bedrooms have helped with privacy, dignity, and safety.
"And we have much more space on the ward, which assists in the delivery of therapeutic activities.
“Now we’re able to focus on single gender and condition, we’re working towards becoming dementia care specialists.
"This involves undertaking lots of training to build our expertise, so our patients can benefit from the gold standard care they deserve.”
The Oldham acute mental health wards included in this programme of work include:
Aspen ward (adults): 22 beds for women with functional conditions – completed 2018 (work undertaken separately to the focused single gender programme, as part of planned improvements at the time)
Oak ward (adults): 22 beds for men with functional conditions – completed 2018 (work undertaken separately to the focused single gender programme, as part of planned improvements at the time)
Rowan ward (older people): 12 beds for women with functional conditions – completed November 2022
Cedars ward (older people): 10 beds for men with organic conditions – completed November 2022
This work is part of Pennine Care’s ambitious transformation programme.
People can find out more at: www.penninecare.nhs.uk/transformation
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