Patients at Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust offered visits to Whipsnade Zoo as part of rehabilitation
Patients with Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have been offered therapeutic visits to Whipsnade Zoo as part of their recovery programme.
The visits have been made possible thanks to a partnership between the trust’s Intensive Care Unit, Whipsnade Zoo and St John’s Ambulance.
The initiative aims to support patients mental wellbeing, encourage physical engagement and offer a change of scenery from a hospital setting.
Andy, who has been in an intensive care unit for ten months and was a keen walker before an accident, was the first patient to visit the zoo.
He said: “I felt safe with the staff there and it was good for my mental wellbeing. The facilities at Whipsnade are fantastic, especially the changing places, which can be used by anyone.
“It’s a real leap forward to have facilities that support families with children with additional needs.
“I hope these visits will be the start of something wonderful for other patients too.
“Yes, you have to be clinically stable, but you’re not going without the best nursing care. I’d encourage people to say yes to opportunities, have the experience, and enjoy it.
“When you’re in hospital for a long time, it can get very samey. But you can have a great day and still be very well taken care of.”
Mark, who has been in an intensive care unit for eight months, also visited the zoo with his family as part of the initiative.
His daughter said: “To have a normal family outing and reconnect with dad away from the hospital was something we didn’t realise we needed, but now we know just how much we did.
“Our ‘normal’ had become hospital corridors and clinical routines, and dad had become ‘the patient’. But on the day we visited he was simply dad and grandad to his grandchildren.
“In ICU you care for the whole family, not just the patient and over the last eight months, your team has gone above and beyond in doing exactly that.”
Sarah Shipley, the matron for the trust’s intensive care unit added: “We’ve seen the incredible impact these rehabilitation trips had on our ICU patients and their families.
“Being able to spend time outside the hospital, reconnect with nature, and share meaningful moments together supports not only physical recovery but emotional healing too.
“For families, it’s a chance to see their loved ones as themselves again, not just as patients.
“For our teams, it’s a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
“Recovery from critical care isn’t just about survival, it’s about living.
“These experiences reinforce the importance of compassionate, person-centred care that reaches beyond the ICU.”
The visits were made possible thanks to financial support from the Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust charitable fund.