A trip down Memory Lane

Home furnishing paid for by Portsmouth Hospitals Charity is helping to improve life on an Older People's Medicine ward.

Previously unutilised ward space known as 'Memory Lane' has been decorated and furnished with tables, chairs, games and tea sets to provide a more homely and familiar environment for patients.  

"We've been encouraging our dementia patients to step away from their beds, drink tea with other patients and play card games in this new space. It's been so lovely to see how they have responded to it," says Rosie Chilvers, Senior Matron.

"My nan would never drink a cup of tea from the blue plastic beakers that we have at a patient's bedside. Instead, we've used charitable funds to buy a china tea set, which the patients much prefer drinking from - and it's a conversation starter as well."