Health, Care or Voluntary Sector Role: Senior Anchor Project Manager
Supporting Organisation: Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
I am passionate about tackling health inequalities and currently lead the Social Spark initiative, a Basildon-based healthcare social innovation incubator. My work involves project management, partnership collaboration, and community engagement, and I am particularly focused on developing research skills to better support community-led health interventions.
I am keen to join this Research Fellowship to deepen my understanding of how community-driven interventions can effectively reduce health inequalities and improve local health outcomes. Strengthening my research, data analysis, and academic writing skills will enable me to generate evidence-based insights that directly inform practice, ensuring the projects I lead have a lasting impact.
About Jenny 's fellowship project
Title: How can Community Solutions Reduce Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances at Basildon Hospital?
Basildon Hospital’s Emergency Department serves a diverse and growing community, facing increasing demand, particularly from areas of socioeconomic deprivation that contribute to health inequalities. This research project aims to analyse avoidable Emergency Department attendances by examining patient data, identifying key trends, and understanding the barriers that lead individuals to seek emergency care over alternative options. By collaborating with community groups and Patient Participant Groups, the project will uncover insights that inform community-led interventions, helping to shift care away from hospitals and into preventive, locally accessible services. The findings will support the development of innovative social businesses, align with national healthcare reforms such as the Darzi Review, and contribute to Mid and South Essex ICS’s long-term strategy for reducing system pressures through early intervention.
Jenny's Supervisor: Professor Lee Smith, Anglia Ruskin University
Contact Jenny: jenny.garrett@nhs.net