12 • Profile


Sowing the seeds for good health


An innovative project building gardens in GP practices is transforming patient care


G


ROWING vegetables is not the usual scope of practice for a GP, so when NHS educator Ed Rosen approached a group of clinicians with his ‘gardening for health’ idea, he was met with some scepticism.


However, six years (and one Royal visit)


later, his ground-breaking food co-operative project is flourishing. Today, 15 gardens have been created in the


grounds of doctors’ surgeries across the South London borough of Lambeth, growing everything from beetroot and mushrooms to herbs and potatoes. In these green spaces, patients and healthcare teams come together to cultivate crops as well as relationships. Alongside the more obvious practical lessons


on gardening and healthy eating, the project has provided a lifeline for those affected by loneliness, depression, anxiety and chronic conditions such as diabetes and arthritis. Ed, a self-confessed “novice gardener”,


is the director and driving force behind the Lambeth GP Food Co-op (LGPFC). So far the project has engaged with more than 400 patients, many of whom suffer from multiple long-term conditions and who live in high-rise tower blocks with no access to green spaces.


Health boost The gardens are an ideal, informal setting for healthcare teams – including dieticians – to highlight the importance of eating well and to offer nutritional advice. Over the years a number of patients have


shared their stories on the co-op’s website, describing how it has benefited them. One patient in Vauxhall who was struggling with his weight and a long-term health condition was inspired to transform his eating habits and is now the proud owner of a window sill herb garden at home. Ed says: “Dieticians and nutritionists from St Thomas’ Hospital and Kings have come out, rolled their sleeves up and planted alongside patients. In doing so, they have spoken to patients about the nutritional value of what they are planting. They are low-key health conversations whilst they are collaborating in planting courgettes or pumpkins. “It does improve the quality of life for some


of the most vulnerable people in society.” Another patient who attended the food co-op describes how it has benefited her


mental health, saying: “As a person with depression and anxiety problems, I find the project a good way to meet people and combat a sense of isolation I often feel. It has also motivated me to utilise my balcony space to grow food and has reignited my love of cooking.”


Pioneering work Lambeth food co-operative is something of a pioneer in the movement towards more widespread ‘social prescribing’ (where clinicians direct patients to a variety of cultural and community activities to improve quality of life). The initiative was established well before the UK government unveiled its “loneliness strategy” in 2018, which called on GPs to engage in more social prescribing. NHS national clinical lead for social


prescribing Dr Michael Dixon has praised their work as “a model of social prescribing in action”. At the same time, in February 2019, the food co-op received Royal recognition when Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited the LGPFC garden at Swan Mews in Lambeth for their sixth anniversary.


And as Lambeth’s co-op goes from strength


to strength, other healthcare providers are taking note. A food garden has been built at the


Pulross Centre in Brixton, a 20-bed unit which cares for patients with MS and who have suffered from stroke and other conditions. Ed says: “The OTs and physiotherapists are


planting and growing vegetables with patients, many of whom have lost limbs and are in wheelchairs. That is a really important model as we continue our journey in the acute sector and the community centre.” Ed has ambitious plans for the longer term, including building gardens on hospital roofs and other unused spaces in the community. He also hopes to work with NHS catering companies so that the food grown in the grounds of local surgeries by local patients can be served in local hospitals, like Kings. However, at present, the volumes required


to make this happen are just too high, as Ed explains: “If we were able to grow one tonne of


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