County Outpatients Garden is bloomin’ marvellous thanks to UHNM staff

Outpatients garden brings year-round joy to staff and visitors

From Christmas to the coronation, Halloween to the height of summer, staff and visitors to County Hospital can’t fail to miss the Outpatients garden looking bloomin’ marvellous all thanks to the efforts of a group of UHNM staff.

Staff and visitors to County Hospital have a well-maintained space to enjoy a break from the stresses of clinical life thanks to Liz Siddall and her colleagues from Outpatients.

Originally refurbished thanks to UHNM Charity, Liz, a senior healthcare support worker, has taken it upon herself to keep the garden looking its best all year round.

She explains: “I really enjoy working in Outpatients and have been here 26 years.”

“The garden has become a passion following the death of my brother Ian Huston who was a union rep here at County. He loved his garden, so we decided to dedicate the area to his memory. It’s somewhere where people can sit out and enjoy a break away from the clinical environment.”

“We buy everything for it ourselves out of our own pocket from plants to decorations. It’s peace for us as well after loosing Ian. The last thing he bought for his garden was a water feature, and thanks to UHNM Charity we now have one in the garden too.”

“Every special time of year be that Halloween, Remembrance Day or Christmas, we make sure there’s something up. We like everyone to see it and feel welcome to come sit out there.”

“It means so much to see people enjoying the garden. Last Christmas we put Santa’s sleigh out there and the amount of people who had their photo with it was amazing.”

“We’ve decided on a Nutcracker theme this Christmas, and have worked very hard on it.”