The Heather Wing
Dementia care
A small homely wing where familiar things are within reach and there are people to walk with. Staff know the person, and not just the diagnosis.
Nobody with dementia is short of things they can no longer do. We try to spend the day on what they still can: folding towels, singing hymns, walking the garden path, telling you about the pit or the dairy.
The Heather Wing has twelve rooms, a kitchen you can walk into, a safe garden with a circular path, and memory boxes by each door. Families fill in a life story with us before you come, so that the carer who walks in at 7am knows you were a headmistress, and that you take your tea black. People whose first language is Welsh often return to it, and many of our staff speak it.
We use as little sedating medicine as possible, and we review it with the GP. We train every member of staff in dementia care, including the cook and the gardener. We will not lock anyone in their room, and if anyone needs to be kept from leaving for their safety, the legal safeguards are followed and explained to the family.
What is included
- Twelve-room wing with its own kitchen and safe garden
- A life story written with the family
- Welsh-speaking staff on every shift
- Regular review of medicines
- Everything in residential care
What it costs
Dementia care is £1,120 a week, in the Heather Wing, and it includes everything in residential care. The fees page works out a total and explains who pays what. Fees are reviewed each April, with three months' notice in writing.
Questions about dementia care
My father is not safe at home, and he refuses to come. What do I do?
Please ring and talk to Menna, the manager, who has had this conversation many times. We can visit him first. It may take a while, and you may need your social worker too.
Can you care for someone to the end of their life?
Yes, in most cases, with our nurses and the local palliative team. See our palliative care page.
Come and see us. Any day.
No appointment. Ring the bell at any reasonable hour, and someone will show you round and put the kettle on. If you want to talk about money or care plans with Menna, ring first so that she is free.