There is substantial evidence to show that artworks in a hospital can contribute to recovery rates and reduce stress; they help to humanise the environment and provide a welcome distraction for those who are ill or distressed. The Dorset County Hospital collection contains many specially commissioned artworks as part of 'Bringing the Outside In', an Arts Council Lottery funded project. Highlights of the collection include the panoramic 'The Knowledge: Dorset', by Stephen Farthing, which features many famous landmarks in the county in a sweeping birds eye view. We have a fine example of John Hubbard's lyrical landscape painting in our diptych 'The Mere, Cogden', which hangs either side of the entrance to the main theatres. Everywhere you go in the hospital you encounter something striking, from the wonderfully luminous and mysterious paintings of West Bay by Alex Lowery to the subtle and iconic abstracts 'Light Inside 1' and 'Light Inside 2' by Carol Robertson, framing the entrance to the Chapel.