'I forgot what it's like to be outside': Intensive care ward opens on rooftop

Hollie Allan, 29, is in a hospital lift being transferred out of intensive care for the first time in two months. She's heading upwards, towards a new outdoor ward on the roof of the hospital.

"Brace yourself for the cold!" say the nurses crowded into the lift around her bed. As the doors open, sunshine hits Hollie's face.

She brightens into a smile, then tears come. "I'm sorry, it's so nice. It's so beautiful," she says wiping her eyes. "I forgot what it feels like to be outside."

Still in her hospital bed, connected to feeding tubes and life support, Hollie is the first patient to try out the new intensive care rooftop ward at King's College Hospital in south London.

The first of its kind in the UK, the outdoor ward has enough space for six patients, who can be connected to power and oxygen supplies housed in a waterproof box next to each bed.

The canopy design means that some of the most seriously ill patients can be cared for safely outdoors, with all the support they need.

Exposure to fresh air and nature can boost patient wellbeing and reduce time spent in hospital, research suggests.

Hospital gardens have been around for some time for that reason - but they are rarely able to meet the needs of critically ill patients.

Doctors at King's say there could be huge benefits for these patients who've been in hospital for extended periods.

They now plan to monitor patients' heart rates, respiratory rates and pain levels, to see if the outdoor rooftop ward helps them recover more quickly.

Hollie, who is waiting for a vital heart operation, had been too ill to go outside even before she was admitted to hospital.

Her long stay in intensive care has affected her deeply.

"When you're stuck inside all day there's no motivation to try and get back to normal life. You get tired of fighting."

The new rooftop garden has been integrated into the hospital's 60-bed intensive care unit, one of the largest in the country.

Hollie could spend several hours on the outdoor ward at a time, depending on the weather.

"Even if it was thunderstorms, I'd be out here. It's lovely," Hollie says.

Some of the bays on the rooftop are partially covered with canopies.

Dr Phil Hopkins, intensive care consultant at King's, says feeling the natural elements is part of helping patients readjust when they've been "ripped from their reality" and institutionalised in hospital.

"We don't just want to save lives," he says. "We want to return them to their lives as quickly as we can."

Hopkins and his team will monitor patients closely to check on the impact of spending time outside - but they are not the only ones who could benefit.

Intensive care staff will also be able to access the rooftop space during breaks, which managers hope will offer them some respite too.

"It's the antithesis of a hospital ward," says garden designer Sarah Price. She devised the rooftop planting with her colleague landscape architect Nigel Dunnett, having worked together on the Olympic Park for the London 2012 Olympics. He passed away before the roof garden was finished.

The beds are dotted with scented flowers such as honeysuckle, jasmine and lavender, and textured foliage and grasses that patients can touch and smell from their beds.

Price says gardens help people slow down and feel more connected to nature: "You can see the change not only on their face, but just in the way that they breathe."

The more than £2m it has cost to build the garden was raised by the hospital's charity.

Hospital chief executive Clive Kay is optimistic it will do more than just improve the experience of being in hospital for patients.

He says he hopes it will lead to "shorter lengths of [patient] stays and better use of critical care facilities", which could then be replicated in hospitals across the NHS.

Photography by Emma Lynch

(Drone footage supplied by King's College Hospital)

Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.