Connie Leey,an alumni from the first class to graduate in Medicine at UIC Barcelona has received the Bages prize for Young Doctors, which is one of the most important prizes in existence. Leey, who works in the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department in the Fundació Althaia in Manresa, won the prize for presenting a project entitled "Evaluating the Efficiency of Academic Community Healthcare Interventions in the Adequate use of Accident & Emergency Services". Via this project, which was awarded the sum of 1.500 euros, Connie aims to "reduce the number of non-serious pathology appointments in the A&E Service and to promote primary healthcare". According to the statistics, 65% of the 65,000 urgent cases last year in the catchment area were non-serious.
This is the first time that on the eve of Saint Luke of Manresa’s Day, when doctor's in the area celebrate the life of their patron saint, this type of prize has been awarded to a resident doctor in their first year. Connie believes that the motivation behind this prize was not only to recognise a project that will make the system more efficient, but was also to recognise her personal journey (she was a nurse before studying Medicine), her background and her drive. After the prize was awarded, she received various requests from the Fundació Althaia and the Institut Català de la Salut to undertake the project. According to Connie, developing the idea might take 2 and a half or three years and it could reduce incorrect usage of A&E by 15%. The first stage of the project involves questionnaires being given to A&E users in order to understand the reasons behind this incorrect usage and then in the second stage a series of educational materials adapted to the sample would be created. The final stage of the project will involve an analysis of the impact this action has had.
