Lead Psychologist Keith Jenkins wins Alyson Plummer Memorial Award 2019

We're proud to share that Keith Jenkins, our Lead Psychologist for Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Care Integrated Practice Unit (IPU), has won this year's Alyson Plummer Memorial Award.

The Memorial Award - named after Alyson Plummer, a brilliant Occupational Therapist who passed away in 2005 - is given annually to a nominated member of staff to recognise brilliance and hard work.

The Award honours Alyson, who died in 2005 at the age of 28 from a rare kidney disorder called Gitelman Syndrome. Described by her mum as “an academic with a zest for life,” Alyson studied for a career as an occupational therapist. After several placements, she decided her future was working with the rehabilitation of brain injury patients at St Andrew’s Healthcare.

Following Alyson’s passing, her family put forward a Memorial Award to be given annually to a nominated staff member. The award is displayed in the corridor of the Kemsley building.

The ceremony is attended by Alyson's parents, Kevin and Julia, who read through all the nominations and help decide upon the winner. This year there were 8 nominations for the Memorial Award; Rocco Sereno (Rehabilitation Assistant), Jan Leslie (Hotel Services Assistant), Frances Warmington (Rehabilitation Assistant), Jyothi Kraleti (Specialist Physiotherapist), Shaun Coulson (Rehabilitation Assistant) Greg Floyd (Senior Technical Instructor - Music) and Sandy Roberts (Specialist Rehabilitation Assistant) and Keith was named as the recipient.

Keith's nomination read:

"Keith Jenkins has been a mainstay of the Brain Injury Service at St Andrew's for many years now. Keith is such a dedicated man who really does go that extra mile to meet the needs of not just the patients, but also their families and the staff who sup-port them. Keith is a real inspiration to others to always strive to do the best they can to understand and support our patients."

At the event, Julia unveiled the plaque with all previous winners' names on and presented Keith with £200, which the family raised money for. Keith has split the money between our wards, and some has already been invested in a radio for the family visiting room. 

Sarah Hayes, Clinical Lead for the Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Care IPU, led the ceremony, and reflected on her time working with Alyson.

"She was an incredible OT, with a tremendously messy desk, full of creativity with a real passion for patient care."

On behalf of everyone at St Andrew's, we'd like to congratulate Keith, and thank Kevin, Julia and our staff for their attendance at the ceremony.