MEMORIES were stirred as dementia patients were treated to sweet sounds thanks to a pioneering music in hospital project.

The second session of the Music for a While project saw Dorset County Hospital again welcome Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) associate Neil Valentine to lead a music workshop and performance to patients living with dementia.

The project, in partnership with Arts in Hospitals and has been funded by Dorset County Hospital and BSO Participate, is running at DCH for two years.

Initially starting out as a pilot project working with nursing staff and patients at Poole, Portsmouth and Winchester hospitals, led by Arts and Health South West, Music for a While resulted in such an improvement to the quality of patients’ lives that the BSO now delivers regular sessions at Poole with the aim to extend the project’s reach to additional hospitals across the region.

The BSO’s new partnership with Arts in Hospital, a small charitable organisation based at DCH, aims to enhance the healing environment and the wellbeing of patients, and will enable the orchestra to change even more lives through the power of music.

BSO Associate Neil Valentine visited the hospital to perform a morning session in the Day Room of the Barnes Ward. He ran an interactive musical workshop for the patients, which saw them singing and creating verses to What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor, playing along to different songs with maracas or bells, as well as getting the opportunity to conduct Mr Valentine with a baton.

He also performed for the patients, playing a variety of music from Tchaikovsky to Frank Sinatra – providing entertainment and rekindling memories.

Sessions are taking place once a month, with a further 17 sessions planned until August 2019. There are also additional performances by BSO musicians planned to take place at key points throughout the year including Christmas and during Dementia Awareness Week in May 2018.

Ruth Findlay, Dementia Day Room co-coordinator at DCH, said: “We always look forward to the music sessions in the day room because they lift patients mood and it’s wonderful to see people remembering the words to old songs. Many patients talk about the sessions afterwards.”

James Richards, Consultant Physician and Geriatrician, Clinical lead for Dementia at the hospital added: “I am a great believer in the benefits of art and music for frail older people and those with dementia."