Dementia Service Redesign: Borders Specialist care Dementia Unit

We are pleased to announce, following last week’s Board Meeting, that Melburn Lodge ward on the Borders General Hospital campus has now become the Borders Specialist care Dementia Unit (BSDU).

This name change reflects our redesign of our mental health older adult inpatient service which merged staff and patient groups from the two previous dementia wards (Melburn Lodge and Cauldshiels).

Now in-patients with dementia are supported within Borders Specialist care Dementia Unit, for assessment or long term care & treatment, by highly skilled specialist staff and their approach of person-centred care.

This redesign reflects the recommendations made in the “Transforming specialist dementia hospital care” report, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government.

Peter Lerpiniere, Associate Director of Nursing for Mental Health, Learning Disability & Older People, said:

“Over the past year we have consulted with staff within older adults, our older adult’s service operational group and our Dementia user group, so that we could redesign our in-patient care for those with dementia.

“The name Borders Specialist Dementia Unitreflects these changes by being a more accurate description of what the unit is designed to provide; which is support to patients diagnosed with dementia in a specialised environment.”