GPs prescribe gardening therapy to help lonely

DOCTORS are offering allotments as a prescription for patients suffering stress, loneliness and mobility problems.

The pioneering scheme aims to help them get fitter, make friends and improve their diet with homegrown produce.

GPs at the surgery in Dursley, Gloucestershire, have five allotments out of 41 built in the grounds of a nearby hospital.

Dr Simon Opher said: ‘Sometimes I think doctors can medicalise problems which have a different solution. Diet and

exercise are as important as most drugs. It’s good to get your hands dirty and to be outside.’

‘The process is someone would come to see you and they would perhaps have a mental health issue such as depression. They might be isolated and lonely. Others may have had a heart attack and might feel worried about doing exercise again.’

Patients have gained physically and mentally since being offered the green spaces in the past two years, he added.

They include father-of-four Robin Deane, 73, who suffers a rare and incurable

muscle wasting condition and had been wheelchair-bound at home.

‘I still use it but I can get out at the allotments and move around,’ he said.

‘I have somewhere I can go where I’m safe and feel like I’m being useful because I’m growing vegetables and doing something.’

The May Lane surgery plans to use another ten of the plots. Most have 16ft by 4ft raised beds built with £25,000 in donations and grants. Other spaces are allocated by local health practitioners.