HOSPITAL bosses will be able to give grieving relatives greater support after their plans for a new £40,000 “bereavement suite” were approved.

As previously reported in The Press, managers at York Hospital believe the suite will transform the services for those who have lost loved ones.

Planners say the new suite could even help those in mourning start to come to the terms with their loss.

A formal statement by the hospital’s planning agents, Thompson Spencer, said: “We seek to deliver an environment which, through use of colour, light art and design, can itself be a part of the healing process.

“We recognise that exposure to particular colours has been shown in clinical studies to have significant effect on mood and personality, and our understanding of this will be fundamental in developing our design strategy.”

Bereaved people currently have to visit various areas of the hospital to collect the death certificate and pick up belongings, but the new suite will allow everything to be done in one place.

City of York Council has now granted planning permission for the suite, which hospital managers said should be open by the end of this year.

It will be on the ground floor of the hospital, off the main corridor, in an area currently used by the City of York Registrar, clinical coding office, an equipment store and the existing bereavement services advisor.

Nichola Greenwood, York Hospital’s medical governance manager, previously told The Press: “At the moment, relatives have to go to a number of different places around the hospital to get everything they need and so this new suite will centralise the facilities.

“Losing a loved one is the most difficult time in your life and the facilities we have for them at the moment are not acceptable.

“It is really exciting that we are now going to be able to change that.”

The King’s Fund gave £30,000 towards the project, with the remaining £10,000 coming from the hospital’s own budget.