Congratulations to Emergency Ambulance Service paramedic Kelly Marquis who has won the Insurance Corporation Health & Social Care Bursary.

The judges awarded the top prize of £2,500 to Kelly’s project called the ‘Cake & Consultation’ programme, which will  proactively reach out to the elderly population to identify problems with frailty in their infancy, before the patient requires emergency response or hospital admission.

Patients would receive milestone birthday cards from the age of 70, from St John and HSC, inviting them to attend frailty practitioner assessments. The prize money will help towards the funding of this scheme and the purchasing of any specific equipment needed following the frailty assessment.

Kelly is a paramedic frailty practitioner on a two secondment from the St John Emergency Ambulance Service to Guernsey’s Health and Social Care department to look at setting up a frailty specialist service.

Kelly was delighted to win. ‘I initially wanted to run for the Bursary and look into the project because this is a brand new role at HSC and St John, meaning there is not currently a known budget or supply of resources because this project is in its infancy,’ she said. ‘I thought that the Bursary would be a good opportunity to try and give the service the best possible start and hit the ground running. It feels absolutely fantastic to have won. It is no secret that we are living in an ageing population where services are stretched, so to have support from a company like Insurance Corporation enables us to continue doing the absolute best we can for the community.’

Matt Jones, Director of Operations at HSC said: ‘The Insurance Corporation Bursary Scheme which has operated since 1991 makes a real difference to our staff and the work they deliver for our community across health and social care. The award drives innovation and directly supports our commitment to continually challenge and transform our services. The greatest challenge we have is choosing a winner from the many quality applications we receive each year. All applicants have fully embraced the ethos of the Partnership of Purpose and I would like to thank both our staff and friends at the Insurance Corporation for their engagement and support of this important initiative.’

 

Photo by Chris George

 

Posted: November 23, 2021