Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust has won a national gold award for its state-of-the-art dementia assessment unit (DAU) at Lynfield Mount Hospital.

The facility has been given the highest accolade by the leading Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) at Stirling University, for its high-quality dementia friendly design that has been created with input from local carers, families and staff.

The 2.5 million 22 en-suite unit that opened its doors in 2015, has been designed to provide a familiar and supportive environment for people with dementia across Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven.

Features include 10 reminiscence walls that show well-known local landmarks including the Cow and Calf, Skipton Castle, Bolton Abbey and Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre, to help patients identify and navigate different areas around the facility.

The entrance to each patient’s room is designed to look like their own front door, with their own ‘memory board’ for personal memorabilia and photographs. This helps to promote a sense of personal identity and belonging, to help people feel comfortable within the environment.

The colours and fabrics have all been carefully selected so that people can move safely round the assessment unit without becoming disorientated.  The unit is bright and airy to improve patients’ sense of well-being, with two outdoor spaces, a quiet lounge, visitors’ room and a reminiscence therapy area.

Allison Bingham Deputy Director of Specialist Inpatient services at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re delighted to be awarded the gold award for the Trust’s Dementia Assessment Unit.  The facility was developed with close consultation and involvement of patients’ families and carers.  The design and layout of rooms is really important for people with dementia, with a focus on reminiscence, to promote meaningful interaction with the environment.

We have taken great care to make the unit as welcoming as possible for patients, with many familiar features which they will be able to recognise from the home environment.  The DSDC gold award recognises that we have designed a high quality dementia friendly environment for individuals that enables our specialist team to provide tailored care and support.”

Lesley Palmer, Chief Architect Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling, said: “From inception to completion the architect exhibited a fresh and innovate approach to dementia-inclusive design.  This included focussed client consultation at the outset to establish key product aspirations (for both care provision and design) to detailed design consultation with manufacturers to ensure the DSDC design principles were achieved where the end-user requirements demanded bespoke solutions.”

To find out more about the Dementia Assessment Unit visit:

Dementia Assessment Unit – Lynfield Mount

ENDS