PATIENTS are now being made more comfortable, thanks to a special gift.

A grant from Winsford Town Council has been used to buy a specialist mattress which patients are already using at St Luke’s Hospice.

Wendy Wilson, director of care at St Luke’s Hospice, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Winsford Town Council for its generous grant.

“This specialist mattress helps patients who are nursed in bed and are often too weak and ill to reposition themselves. With many patients spending 24 hours in their beds, they are at serious risk of developing pressure sores and so specialist mattresses are vital to their care and help prevent pain and discomfort.”

The mattress, which costs £859.20, has high specification foam with alternating air cells and gel-filled heel pressure relief areas.

It also has a unique ability to change between a static foam mattress and a balanced-air self-adjusting air mattress, and because all of this can be changed at the touch of a button without the patient getting out of bed. It is therefore the most comfortable and least distressing solution for patients.

Town mayor Cllr Gina Lewis said: “Winsford Town Council is very pleased to support St Luke’s Hospice in all that they do.

"I am delighted to learn that the specialist mattress which the grant paid for is already in use and helping to make a patient more comfortable at such a difficult time for them.”

The new mattress will be used by some of the 300 people St Luke’s cares for each year, offering them much needed comfort 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.