Manx Care will hold its second public Open Day and APM (Annual Public Meeting) this summer.
The event, on Tuesday 4 July, will primarily be an informal drop-in event where members of the public can visit stalls to meet the teams at the forefront of delivering care. It is being held at Vagabonds Rugby Club on the Noble’s Hospital site in Strang, and will take place between 3pm and 7pm, with the sit-down APM and presentation between 5:30pm and 6:30pm.
Visitors will be encouraged to find out more about the organisation’s plans for the future delivery of health and statutory social care services on the Isle of Man. During the event, members of the public will be able to see highlights of Manx Care’s achievements over the past year, as well as the challenges it has faced, via a short documentary.
There will be an opportunity to meet with teams from Care Groups and services across Manx Care, as well as some of the departments with whom we work closely in other areas of Government, and some organisations in the Third Sector locally. The list of exhibitors from Manx Care’s Care Groups and services includes:
- The Manx Care Board
- Integrated Primary and Community Care Services
- Integrated Diagnostics and Cancer Services
- Medicine, Urgent Care and Ambulance Services
- Surgery, Theatres, Critical Care and Anaesthetics
- Integrated Mental Health Services
- Social Care Services and Safeguarding
- Integrated Women’s, Children’s and Families Services
- The Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service – MCALS
- Patient Transfers and Tertiary Care
- Our Practice Development Team, and the Nurse Education Team from Keyll Darree
- Infection Prevention and Control
To complement to the informal nature of the Open Day, there will also be a more formal sit-down presentation and Q&A session with members of Manx Care’s Board. Keynote speeches will be given, including one from the Children and Families Team within Integrated Social Care Services, the Cancer Services team, and another from Manx Care’s Northern Wellbeing Partnership Team.
This year there will be an emphasis on family activities in order to encourage younger members of the community to engage with health and social care services, as well as the Island’s broader emergency services teams, especially as it will be a bank holiday for many the next day. Some of the family fun activities on offer will include:
- Interactive displays for people to get involved in provided by Isle of Man Ambulance Service, for example CPR demonstrations
- Meeting the dogs who are part of the Isle of Man Search and Rescue Dogs Association team
- Displays from our colleagues in the Police and Fire Service locally (details to be confirmed nearer the time)
- Giant inflatables and games
- Face painting and hair braiding
- A treasure hunt
- An ice cream van
Teresa Cope, CEO of Manx Care, commented:
'We are committed to engaging with the public and being transparent about the way in which we operate, and so I’m really looking forward to this year’s public Open Day and APM. Last year’s event was fantastic, with great attendance from both colleagues and members of the public, and I’m delighted that this year it will be even bigger and better, with a focus on family-based activities. We know that members of the public benefit from the opportunity to meet with some of the clinicians involved in delivering frontline health and care services in a friendly, informal environment, and this is a chance to celebrate our successes over the year, as well as to reflect on our recent challenges. I’d urge people to attend – even if they can only spare a few minutes – to find out more about Manx Care’s plans for the future delivery of health and statutory social care services on the Isle of Man.'
