A record-breaking HIV campaign and safer cricket helmets triumph at BMJ Group Awards 2012
A world record for HIV testing and a project to make cricket helmets safer have scooped two of the top prizes at the BMJ Group Awards in London tonight (23 May 2012).
Leading figures in healthcare joined celebrities at the BMJ Group Improving Health Awards 2012 to honour those who have made outstanding contributions to healthcare.
For the past four years, the Awards, held in association with doctors’ insurer MDDUS, have recognised and celebrated excellence in healthcare across the UK. The categories reflect the values of the Group and include awards for ground-breaking research, inspirational leaders and innovations to improve patient care.
Those who triumphed on the night included the G-A-Y bar in London, which won the award for best Healthcare Communication Campaign. With help from a central London sexual health and HIV clinic, A World Record for World AIDS Day was a huge success with more than 450 people tested for HIV and £12,000 raised for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
In the year that London hosts the Olympics, the England and Wales Cricket Board Science and Medicine Team scooped the award for Sports and Exercise Team of the Year thanks to their work to reduce the impact of injury and the safer manufacture of helmets.
This award was judged by Olympian Tim Brabants and was presented by Dr Andrew Deaner, the cardiologist who ran onto the pitch to help footballer Fabrice Muamba earlier this year.
The glittering ceremony which took place at the London Hilton on Park Lane was hosted by comedy actress and script writer Sally Phillips, most famed for her roles in Bridget Jones’ Diary and Miranda. Also attending the awards was TV doctor Christian Jessen as well as other celebrity guests including Alastair Campbell who spoke on behalf of the mental health charity Mind.
A new award for this year was the Karen Woo Award which recognises individuals who have gone beyond their call of duty to care for patients. Karen Woo was a doctor killed in Afghanistan in 2010 whilst working for a relief charity. Co-judged by her brother Andrew Woo, the winner of this award was Lucy Mathen who established the charity Second Sight which last year helped restore sight to more than 50,000 people in India. This coming year she aims to cure 60,000 people. Dr Mathen gave up her job to run the charity unpaid and full time.
Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Dr Bernard Lown, a cardiologist and Nobel Prize winner who also developed the defibrillator. Dr Lown, now 91, has devoted over 50 years to the practice of medicine, particularly in the field of cardiology and is also a keen peace activist.
The NHS in London walked away with the Improvement in Patient Safety Award for shaking up London’s acute stroke services, which they hope will help save up to 400 lives a year. Another London team, Family Drug and Alcohol Court Intervention Team won the Working in Partnership Award for helping London families to overcome addiction.
The award for Transforming Patient Care Using Technology went to a team from Nottingham University NHS Hospital who triumphed with their Wireless Working System to improve overnight care in hospitals. Other winners from Nottingham include the NHS Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group who took home the award for Clinical Commissioning Team of the Year for their work to ensure that the Health Bill is shaped for the benefit of the local population.
Other winners on the night included Dr Jon Cardy who was named Clinical Leader of the Year for transforming A&E services at West Suffolk Hospital and Dr Alexander Finlayson who was named Junior Doctor of the Year for his MedicineAfrica project which helps educate medical students and doctors in Somaliland.
Visit http://groupawards.bmj.com for a full list of the winners.
