A community nurse who has been working with Scottish rural charity RSABI has been selected for the prestigious Queen’s Nurse Award.
Irene Scott, who is a farmer’s wife from Fife and based at Inverkeithing Medical Group, started with working RSABI at the Royal Highland Show last summer to deliver its Health Hut initiative.
She has been taking hundreds of farmers’ blood pressures at agricultural events as well as offering health and wellbeing advice to people of all ages in Scottish agriculture.
An auction mart programme is currently being delivered on a pilot basis working in partnership with ANM Group with farmers being offered free ‘wellbeing MOTs’.
As well as blood pressure testing, the hut has been offering cholesterol tests, early diabetes detection and advice on a wide range of physical and mental wellbeing areas – from alcohol consumption to nutrition and exercise.
Irene said: “To be selected for the Queen’s Nurse Award is real honour, especially when QNIS only offer this programme to a small number of health professionals, from all areas of community nursing across Scotland each year.
“My work with RSABI’s Health Hut encompasses all the values outlined in the Queen’s Nurse programme and I am looking forward to being part of the future development of the Health Hut in Scotland.”
Jimmy McLean, chair of RSABI said: “Irene has been an integral part of our Health Hut initiative, and it is wonderful to see her being recognised as a Queen’s Nurse.
“With Irene’s professionalism and love of farming, RSABI have had an excellent response to the Health Hut project and we are looking forward to taking the project forward and looking at rolling it out around the country.”
Irene will be back in action at next week’s Spring Show where visitors will have the opportunity to have a free health MOT at the Health Hut in the main concourse.