A hospital team pioneering innovative approaches to caring for dementia patients has been nominated for a prestigious new national award.

The dementia care team at Bradford Teaching Hospitals is up for the inaugural Compassionate Patient Care prize after making it through to the final shortlist of the Health Service Journal Awards.

Matron Debbie Beaumont said: “Helping patients with dementia cope while in hospital is at the heart of our project and the culture, which we have embedded across all six of the Foundation Trust’s hospitals.

“Being nominated for this award is brilliant as it reinforces that the work going on throughout our hospitals is leading the field when it comes to improving our environment and service to all our patients.”

The team has already received one national award for its work in improving the healing environment, last November it was named winner of the 2012 Building Better Healthcare Award for best interior after changing the interiors of wards 23 and 29 at the BRI.

Changes included painting corridors and wards in relaxing, strong colours and with pathways to help dementia patients’ reminiscence and orientation.

Art work and films from the Yorkshire Film Archive are shown to stimulate patients and memory display boxes have been added behind beds for photographs and belongings.

Dynamic new lighting has also been added to improve patients’ sleep and wake cycles, there are now new televisions and a ‘bygone’ reminiscence cafe has been created on Ward 29, manned by hospital volunteers between 2pm and 4pm daily.

Last month, the team was also awarded a £513,000 Department of Health grant to transform outpatient and public areas at St Luke’s Hospital, Bradford, to make the surroundings more tranquil for patients with dementia and cognitive impairments.

The team has also pioneered a dementia bag full of information for carers, developed a personalised patient care plan called See Who I Am and introduced the forget-me-not flower symbol scheme which provides an immediate visual cue to identify patients with dementia and cognitive impairments.

More than 700 hospital and non-clinical staff have now undergone training to become ‘dementia champions’.

Mrs Beaumont added: “Our achievements so far would not have been possible without the support of the Foundation Trust, The King’s Fund, the Department of Health and important local groups like the Alzheimer’s Society in Bradford and Meri Yaadain, an organisation which aims to raise awareness of dementia and give support to sufferers from the South Asian communities in the district.”

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 19, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, where more than 1,000 healthcare leaders will come together for a night of recognition.