NHS Forest

Exposure to the natural environment has generally been found to have positive benefits for mental and physical health. Action to improve health and reduce health inequalities by ensuring that our natural environment is protected and enhanced and that our communities are built and maintained to be truly sustainable should be part of the NHS core business. The NHS Forest will help to promote access and exposure to the natural environment for staff, patients and their families and local communities.

The NHS Forest was launched on the 6^th October at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. A number of key healthcare and forestry experts attended the event with tree planting being carried out by children from the local primary school and Ken Dodd who came to support the event. There were a number of inspiring presentations during the day including ones from Muir Gray, William Bird, Keith Jones, Birmingham Orthopaedic and Alder Hey Children’s hospital. The launch was detailed in various press articles including a news item by the BMJ, the Horticultural weekly and the BBC.

The NHS Forest is co-ordinated by project manager Sarah Dandy, based at the Campaign for Greener Healthcare. Sarah is working closely with partner organisations, including Natural England, the Woodland Trust and the Forestry Commission to develop the project throughout England. There are three pilot projects in the South West – Gloucestershire NHS Trust, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Falmouth Hospital.

Visit the NHS Forest website at www.nhsforest.org - it includes sections on sustainability, the working groups and details of the pilot sites on an interactive map.

And for more information about the health and well being benefits of the 'natural health service' visit the natural spaces section of this site.