Transformed green space transforms patients’ hospital experience
The Path of Positivity is an outdoor green space that gives patients and their families a much-needed escape from the hospital environment during their recovery.
Oswestry, England
RJAH Charity used funding from NHS Charities Together to transform a once disused green space into the Path of Positivity.
In March 2024, father-of-two Kris suffered an unexpected injury that resulted in weeks spent in hospital.
To help with his recovery, he spent time at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital where he began to learn to walk again, as well as spend some much-needed time with his family thanks to The Path of Positivity.
The Path of Positivity sits on a once disused piece of land behind the hospital. Thanks to RJAH Charity, it is now a tranquil wellbeing path that helps patients with their recovery and lets them spend time with their loved ones outside of the hospital walls.
We talked to Kris about the difference that the path has made to him. He said:
“To have an open space, get fresh air whenever you need it, and a change of scenery is everything and more I could ask for whilst recovering.
"In many hospitals, you can be stuck staring at the same four walls and have limited time and privacy with your loved ones due to being in shared wards.
“When I first saw the path, I took it for granted and thought it had been there many years. I didn’t realise how hard it has been for the hospital to secure funding to have such a fantastic area and how limited these spaces are in other hospitals. My boys love playing football and we spend a lot of time in this space as a family having picnics and spending quality time together.
“The boys love coming here and it's like being in a park and gives you a sense of normality. It's so much more than a path. It’s a tranquil space with rabbits running around and we have taken photos of foxes as well. You come out of this concrete jungle to a really peaceful area where you can forget everything that is going on and just breathe.”
“This is the longest time I have ever been away for my family, and it could be up to 21 weeks in total. It is really difficult, but this hospital and the Path of Positivity is a real gem and another world. I have never been to another hospital like this. I even have doors to a garden in my ward. I hope other hospitals can provide spaces like this for their long-term patients as it really does make a world of difference.”
Watch the video below to learn more.
