Manx Care will hold its first public Open Day and APM (Annual Public Meeting) later this month.
The event, on Tuesday 24 May, will primarily be an informal drop-in event where members of the public can visit different stalls to meet the teams and members of staff at the forefront of delivering care, take part in fun, interactive demonstrations, and find out more about the organisation’s plans for the future delivery of health and statutory social care services on the Isle of Man. The event will be used to highlight and celebrate Manx Care’s achievements in its first year of operation, as well as be transparent about the challenges it encountered, through the use of a short documentary to be played within a small cinema area.
To complement to the informal nature of the Open Day, there will also be a slightly more formal part to the event in the form of an APM meeting, presentation and Q&A session with members of Manx Care’s Board. Two keynote speeches will be given, one from Tania Linden, Head of Operations for Adult Integrated Mental Health Services on the development of an Isle of Man Recovery College, and the second from Dr. Duncan Gerry, Consultant Geriatrician, on the development of a Frailty strategy for the Isle of Man.
The event, which is being held at Vagabonds Rugby Club on the Noble’s Hospital site in Strang, will take place between 15:00 and 19:00, with the sit-down APM and presentation between 17:30 and 18:45. Refreshments will be available, and there will be a face painter for the enjoyment of the younger visitors.
There will also be the opportunity for members of the public to meet teams from Government departments with whom Manx Care works closely, and some of Manx Care’s emergency services partners, including the opportunity to take a look at some of the equipment they use in the course of their work.
The list of exhibitors includes:
- The Manx Care Board
- Teams from Manx Care’s Care Groups:
- Integrated Primary and Community Care
- Social Care
- Integrated Mental Health Services
- Integrated Diagnostics and Cancer Services
- Medicine, Urgent Care and Ambulance
- Surgery, Theatres, Critical Care and Anaesthetics
- Women’s, Children’s and Families Services
- Manx Care’s Community Services teams, including the Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service and the Wellbeing Partnerships
- The Infection Prevention and Control team (including interactive hand hygiene demonstrations)
- The Resuscitation team, giving CPR demonstrations
- The Keyll Darree Nurse Recruitment team, highlighting opportunities for on-Island Nurse degree training
- Government’s Recruitment and Talent Acquisition team
- Government partners from the Department for Health and Social Care (promoting the Autism strategy consultation), the Health and Care Transformation Programme, and Public Health
- 999/emergency response services, including:
- Manx Care’s Ambulance Service
- Police (including the Dog Unit, Community Team and Roads Policing Unit)
- Fire Service*
- Coastguard*
- SARDA (Search and Rescue Dogs Association)
- Civil Defence
Andrew Foster CBE, Chairman of Manx Care, commented:
'When we launched on 01 April 2021, Manx Care made a clear commitment to engaging with the public and being much more transparent about the way in which we operate, and so I’m delighted that we’re able to hold our first public Open Day and APM later this month as part of that commitment. This will really offer members of the public the chance to come and meet some of the clinicians involved in delivering frontline health and care services in a friendly, informal and relaxed environment, hear about our challenges and successes during our first year of operation, as well as hear from our two keynote guest speakers who’ll be covering both physical health and mental health topics in their respective talks. I’m really looking forward to meeting members of the public at the event, and I’d urge people to attend – event if they can only spare a few minutes – to find out more about our plans for the future delivery of health and statutory social care services on the Isle of Man.'
* In the event of an emergency call, these event partners may need to leave quickly in order to attend. The Fire Service will be in attendance until 17:00.
