New dementia unit impresses
Facility back under wing of NHS
The new Strathclyde ward has opened to patients.
The ward is located in the Airbles Road Centre, an NHS Lanarkshire facility in Motherwell.
It is now home for the patients who were previously in the Strathclyde suite at Parksprings Care Home.
Janice Miles, senior nurse for older people, said: “We are delighted to be back on NHS premises.
“We are very pleased with the new unit. The rooms are so bright and airy. We also benefit from the purposebuilt dementia garden we have outside which I am sure the patients will enjoy.
“Our staff are really looking forward to looking after our patients in this area.”
The Strathclyde Suite moved to the Airbles Road Centre on Monday, July 9, as NHS Lanarkshire’s contract with Parksprings Care Home, to provide accommodation, ended.
All of the NHS Lanarkshire staff who provided care within the suite in Parksprings have moved to the new Strathclyde ward.
The GP cover also remains the same so the patients will benefit from continuity of care.
NHS Lanarkshire organised an open day to let relatives and carers have a look around the new facilities. Everyone who attended got a chance to see their loved one’s room and the communal areas. Staff were also on hand to answer any queries.
Elizabeth Pate, from Motherwell, added: “My dad was in the Strathclyde unit for four weeks and he had a single room. He now shares a room which is good because he has some company. The staff said that my dad and the gentleman he shares a room with used to be in the Boys’ Brigade together when they were young.”
In a previous life, the Airbles Road Centre was a busy maternity unit for Motherwell. A current member of staff, Janice McGeogh, gave birth to her two daughters there while another, Margaret Main, was born there 47 years ago.
Frank Gaffney and his brother James were also born in the unit which will now be home to their mum.
Frank said: “The Strathclyde ward is very bright and comforting and I am glad that my mother is coming here.”
His brother James added: “The staff are absolutely amazing and we are pleased that she is going to be so well looked after by all the staff.”
Katherine Anne Alexander, senior charge nurse for the new Strathclyde ward, said: “The whole team is excited about coming back in to an NHS facility. It has been 15 years since we left the former Strathclyde Hospital.
“I would like to thank all the staff for their commitment and hard work in the old unit and for their hard work in getting us to the new unit. We will continue to provide a high standard of care to the patients who come into the ward while also supporting the patients’ families.”