Health & Social Care 2006
Improving the quality of people's lives
Sponsored by Age Concern
Winner
Emily Robinson
BLISS
Emily is the first full time Campaigns Officer at BLISS, the premature baby charity. Her campaign objective is to secure government support for a policy where babies have the same level of intensive care nursing as children and adults. Only 2% of neonatal units in the country can provide one to one nursing in intensive care for babies. She is campaigning for resources in order to recruit the extra nurses to provide this level of care. Her campaign argues that baby mortality rates increase when units are at full capacity and therefore there is a lack of nursing support to 'go round'.
Finalists
Susan Murray
Kirkintilloch Skatepark Initiative (KSI)
Susan lives in Kirkintilloch in Glasgow. She is a marketing professional and volunteers for KSI. Susan began her campaign in an area with a poor health record, and with high levels of heart disease. She was concerned that her children would succumb to the poor diet and lifestyle of their peer group. The campaign addresses this problem by seeking local authority support for new play facilities for children. She has lobbied a range of local politicians and the council has agreed to provide the site for a skatepark. Her campaign now has wider ambitions to secure local authority support for new facilities, such as a BMX track and a multi-sport area.
Zoe Thompson
Treating Autism
Zoe is a mother of two, one of whom has Asperger's Syndrome. She was a Health Promotion Officer in the NHS until she gave up work to care for her six year old son, Philip, fulltime. Her campaign is focused on making biomedical treatments available within the NHS for autistic children. The campaign points to the significant health gains of children with autism. Treating Autism also argues that research into autism is also woefully under-funded. The campaign plans to lead with the dissemination of research, contrasting the health condition of children pre and post-treatment.
