Why is it important to have clocks?

From generous donations, UHS has been able to purchase over 70 clocks for our dementia wards.

Whether it is looking at your phone, a watch or the clock on the wall, we all check the time. Having this ability helps us organise our day, our meals and our sleep patterns.

As dementia progresses, routine and structure is made more imperative to everyday life. Without these time-telling skills, we can quickly become disorientated, anxious and confused.

Our dementia and general surgery departments are working to improve the patient experience for people who live with dementia. Their next step is to introduce one-of-a-kind dementia calendars, designed for table-top use. This adds an extra level of care as many people with dementia lose the ability to understand the meaning of a clock face. A table-top calendar allows for a simpler understanding of the day – the day, the time of day and the weather.

The new clocks are currently being shared among the wards to enable easy and effective readings of time. Combined with our colour-coded bays and other improvements, this is already enabling better orientation to time and place for our patients.