An ambitious plan by the National Health Service to create forests with a combined size of 2,500 football pitches has been launched in Liverpool at Europe's busiest children's hospital, Alder Hey. The new forests will have the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS by 10%.
Children from Mount Primary School in New Brighton planted Tree Number 1 of the NHS Forest, helped by comedian Ken Dodd OBE who lives opposite the world-famous Alder Hey Hospital in Knotty Ash.The tree will take pride of place in the proposed £288m Alder Hey Children’s Health Park, an iconic facility that will see Europe’s first children’s hospital built in a woodland setting. Planting the tree Ken Dodd said: “There’s no better place to start the forest than at Alder Hey in Knotty Ash. We should all be planting trees everywhere to help the planet.”
The NHS Forest will see the planting of 1.3m trees across the UK, representing a sapling for every employee in the NHS. The aim is to plant trees in or around hospitals and health facilities the length and breadth of the country – with the forest becoming a focal point of mature trees during the NHS centenary celebrations in 2048.
Alder Hey is working closely with the Forestry Commission to create the new hospital in a parkland setting where patients will be able to play as part of their recovery process. The widely supported scheme is currently undergoing assessment prior to submission for the go-ahead from the Department of Health.
The NHS is one of the biggest resource users and carbon generators in the UK, with the forest, when it starts to reach maturity in 20 years time, reducing the NHS’ carbon footprint by a massive 10%.
Dubbed the ‘Natural Health Service’ the forest project will see trees, bushes and flowers on every NHS campus, benefitting patients and staff. Patients, relatives and staff will be encouraged to participate in the project by having trees planted as a thank you to the NHS.
The Campaign for Greener Healthcare is working with the Forestry Commission, the Woodland Trust, Natural England, the Sustainable Development Unit and others to develop the NHS Forest. It will lead to partnerships between the NHS and others to identify areas where trees and woodlands can be created in or close to NHS sites and be adopted as part of the new forest.
Sir Muir Gray of The Campaign for Greener Healthcare said: “The forest will win hearts and minds by connecting NHS staff with a highly visible project to introduce the broader issues of sustainability. It will also link staff, patients and the neighbouring communities with their local green space providing very tangible physical benefits for recreation and physical activity as well as wellbeing and a symbolic connection with the wider environment.”
Louise Shepherd, Chief Executive of Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust said: “We realised a long time ago at Alder Hey that green areas and a parkland environment are crucial as part of the recovery process for children. That is why our ambitious plan for a new Alder Hey will see the hospital in the middle of a public park where our young patients will be able to play and enjoy open space.
“The NHS Forest is a fantastic opportunity to create trees and natural environments around our hospitals. I am sure it will capture the imagination of the general public. We are delighted Alder Hey was chosen for the national launch of the NHS Forest.”
Alder Hey treats 250,000 patients a year, making it Europe’s busiest children’s hospital. The current buildings follow the design of Florence Nightingale – although state of the art a century ago - it is now inadequate for modern healthcare needs. The aim is to build the hospital in time for an opening event in October 2014 when Alder Hey celebrates its centenary. For example, the current hospital has an A&E department separate from the main operating theatres by a long uphill corridor a quarter of a mile in length. Almost 1,000 children responded to a recent questionnaire about the health park. As well as giving it overwhelming support many youngsters called for the major facilities, such as A&E, ITU, X-Ray and operating suites to be clustered together.
Get Involved
NHS staff, patients and the local community all have key roles to play in the NHS Forest project. If you work in healthcare and are interested in increasing the number of trees at your organisation, please contact the NHS Forest project coordinator whose contact details are below. The minimum requirement is for one tree to be planted.
The NHS Forest is currently in the pilot phase of the project with up to 10 sites in England being involved. Please see the website's UK map for further details (click here). The project have also had interest from trusts in both Wales and Scotland and are keen to involve Northern Ireland. Let the NHS Forest coordinator know if you would like to sign up to this project.
NHS Forest Co-ordinator contact details: Email: sarah.dandy@kintoa.org Tel: 01865 515811. Website: http://nhsforest.org
Posted on Environment Times online on 28th January 2010.
