Mystery over £326,000 US Scunthorpe hospital legacy solved

The improvements include pictures above the beds and dementia-friendly signs

The mystery behind a £326,000 donation to a Scunthorpe hospital from a woman in the United States has been solved.

Elizabeth Fairchild left the money in her will to benefit patients, but the hospital had no idea of her connection to the town.

Now, after an appeal for information, it has been discovered Mrs Fairchild was born in Scunthorpe before emigrating to America in the 1960s.

The legacy has been used to improve dementia facilities.

Relatives of Mrs Fairchild contacted Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust after seeing the appeal.

They told the trust she grew up in Broughton and worked as a secretary at Scunthorpe steel works after leaving school.

On moving to the US, she got a secretarial job at MGM studios in California, where she met a number of Hollywood stars.

She never forgot her North Lincolnshire roots and stayed in touch regularly with her sister back in Scunthorpe and often visited, her family told the trust.

The family added they were "thrilled the money is being spent on helping dementia patients in hospital, especially since Elizabeth suffered with this herself".

Two of the hospital's wards have already been given the dementia-friendly upgrades

The money is being spent on making wards at Scunthorpe General Hospital more dementia-friendly.

Work includes refurbishing bays and cubicles, and providing nine dementia-friendly bed areas on each ward.

There are pictures above the beds, adjustable lighting systems, matt flooring and dementia-friendly signs.

There will also be reminiscence interactive therapy activities machines, which help patients with their memory, and 12 months of funding for a dedicated dementia staff post.