Steve Barclay, MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, visited the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre this year to open the memorial garden created in honour of Hull’s ‘Bee Lady’.
The Jean Bishop Memorial Garden was created by the Citycare team in memory of the late Jean Bishop after she sadly passed away, age 99. She was an ambassador for Age UK for 30 years, raising over £125,000 whilst wearing her trademark bee costume; the unique outfit which made her a well-know and loved figure.
In 2018, she opened the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre, which provides out-of-hospital care for older people in Hull. The centre, which opened during the week the NHS celebrated its 70th birthday, was named after her to recognise the impact she had made in her home city.
The sensory garden is part of continuing improvements to the ICCs green space, providing a more welcoming, therapeutic environment for patients. The centre’s clinically led team treats frail older people with long term conditions, who’ve been assess by their GP as being at risk of hospital admission.
The Secretary of State spoke to staff from the NHS and partners during his visit, and was impressed by the health care model being delivered.
“It’s about looking at the needs of patients holistically rather than in silos,” he said. “It is clear that this is the direction of travel that the NHS needs to go in. It is a great example ad I hope that other parts of the NHS will learn from it.”
The garden has been designed to support patients , many of whom have conditions such as dementia, through sensory experiences which have proven to slow memory loss, aid hand-eye coordination and help maintain attention.
The full team came together to complete the garden, filling the raised flower beds with lavender and mint, planting seeds and bulbs including crocus, giant daisies. daffodils, and tulips. Lavender and mint were selected for their strong scents, hopefully some of which the community café will be able to use within their recipes.
The garden also includes; bird, bee, and bug houses, window bird feeders and stakes, painted pebbles created by Citycare and the team, benches sanded and painted by Rise Academy.
About Jean Bishop
- Jean Bishop was only the second woman to be granted the freedom of Hull, following anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman in 1987
- She was also celebrated in the Hull version of Monopoly, recognised on a Community Chest card – a nod to her charity work
- Comedian David Walliams, who presented her with the Pride of Britain fundraiser of the year award in 2013, described Mrs Bishop as a “true national treasure”
- In 2017, she was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours
- When the fundraiser received her medal, the Queen asked her why she wasn’t wearing her trademark outfit. to which she replied she would, but it would have meant she “would have had to have paid for two seats on the train”
About the ICC
The £9.5million, award-winning ICC was the first of its kind in the UK and has seen thousands of patients and care home residents pass through its doors since it opened in July 2018, as well as contributing to a significant reduction in hospital admissions.
The pioneering Integrated Care Centre has been celebrated on the international stage, winning Best Social Infrastructure Project (including healthcare) in the prestigious Partnerships Awards 2020, which recognise elite projects, companies, individuals, partnerships, and providers across the globe.
Patients are assessed before having an extensive integrated care plan formed and a care coordinator appointed on the same day, with therapists, voluntary services and other specialist services based under one roof, and blood tests and x-rays carried out as required in a one-stop appointment and follow-up care plan.
Open seven days per week, it aims to keep residents fit, out of hospital and independent in their own home s under this new and unique approach to healthcare, with health and social services working hand-in-hand to ensure the whole picture is considered before discharge.
