A REMINISCENCE room has been created at the Dilke Memorial Hospital for dementia sufferers.

Patients can sit in the room which has been furnished to look like a front room from the 1960s complete with a gas fire, flying wall ducks, and traditional Bakelite telephones. There are even copies of old newspapers and magazines - thanks to the generosity of local people.

The room is part of a series of improvements that have been made at the Dilke to help people with dementia, including colour coding of bays, dementia-friendly signage, bright and roomy bathrooms, and extra dementia training for staff.

Mandy Hampton, matron of Forest Hospitals, said: "I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to our reminiscence room. We ran an advert for contributions and were delighted with the response.

"More importantly, our patients love it. It helps bring back memories and gets them talking. People with dementia don't always remember things that have happened recently but will maintain memories from the past and an environment such as this will stimulate those memories.

"That is very helpful when building a relationship between staff and patients, which allows us to provide much better care."

Lydney Hospital may follow the Dilke with its own building upgrades in the new year, with Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, assessing the options for financing improvements.