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Signage

Itis essential that people are able to find their way around as easily as possible and this is particularly important when an older person is admitted to hospital. Even for people who do not have dementia, a hospital ward can be a difficult place to find your way around and disorientation and frustration can interfere with the assessment and treatment process.

What we expect to find

Wewould expect all mental health admission wards for older people to have clear signs at appropriate heights, large print signs and pictures on walls and doors so that people can easily find the toilets and bedrooms.

What we found

During our visits we paid close attention to the signage on the ward.We were particularly interested to know if there was good signage to identify toilet areas and communal areas. In the majority of wards we visited we found that the signage was poor.

We were told in one ward that they previously had more signage but it just kept getting ripped off and so they had stopped replacing it.

In one ward the Commission visitor commented that the signage was poor and was told by a staff nurse that this was intentional, to encourage the person to orientate without the aid of any cues and also to assess their level of disorientation.

We found some examples where staff had been trying to make improvements. In the Western Isles Hospital they have already carried out their own audit of the environment and have identified that improved signage is needed.In Blairgowrie Hospital our visitor noted

'Although not designed as an admission ward, everything has been done to make it dementia friendly in line with Stirling guidance, including very good signage'.

On one ward in a very new building managed under Private Finance Initiative we were told that staff were not allowed to put any additional signage or pictures onto the walls and that this was because the 'owner' would not allow this.

Action needed

  • All wards must have environmental cues and signs to assist orientation. The Dementia Services Development Cetnre at the University of Stirling has an audit tool that can help and all NHS Boards have staff trained in the use of this tool.