Ninewells Hospital in Dundee has joined the NHS Forest. The site’s innovative green space project has involved improving access to green space for staff, patients and the local community, including a woodland on the hospital grounds.
The Forestry Commission Scotland, NHS Tayside, Dundee City Council and The Maggie’s Centre have set up a steering group to create a woodland plan to improve access on site. This has included providing more signs on site, posting information about the woodland throughout the hospital and increasing the number of seats across the green space.
There have been excellent initiatives to get patients to engage with these green spaces. Clinicians, such as occupational therapists, have encouraged their patients to carry out biodiversity surveys of the site, and developed health walks for patients to use.