The class of 2022: Winners & Highly Commended
Congratulations to all the winners and those highly commended in the MJA Awards 2022 and thank you to the hundreds of talented health and medical journalists who entered our awards.
Winners were announced at the MJA Awards Ceremony, September 15, 2022 at the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, London EC2Y 5BL.
Watch the live broadcast of the ceremony.
Watch video clips of key winners and view pictures from the ceremony
With thanks to our sponsors:
NB: Links are provided to work where available
Newcomer of the Year
36 months or fewer in health/medical journalism
Winner – Caitlin Tilley
Pulse Today: Taxi sent to GP practice after staff waited nine hours for ambulance
Caitlin impressed us with her dogged determination to discover the real reason behind the ambulance delays and she clearly has a great eye for a story. She sensed that handover delays were more than the odd unfortunate incident and was tenacious in her approach, amassing all the supporting evidence from a variety of reputable sources, as well as securing strong quotes from key individuals.
Mental Health Story of the Year — supported by Edelman
Winner – David Robson
BBC Worklife website: The complicated truth of post-traumatic growth
A very thoughtful and accessible piece of work into the complexity of post-traumatic growth. The article raised important issues about mental health including how we assess it and whether we can be over-optimistic in our ability to manage mental health problems or recover. The article was brave. It avoided simple conclusions and explored the areas of grey and the result is an excellent piece of journalism.
Highly Commended – Dr Ellie Cannon
Mail on Sunday: Anti-depressants are worth the risk – I should know I’ve been on them for 15 years
By putting herself in the patient role Ellie Cannon brought incredible honesty and personal experience to her article on anti-depressants. The result was journalism that was accessible, personal, honest, balanced, impactful, and informative. The article had a clear and informative purpose and at the same time made an absorbing read.
Highly Commended – Mark Thompson, Ashish Joshi, Rachel Lucas, Andy Portch
Sky News: Groomed by a psychiatric unit predator
An incredibly powerful interview which laid bare the failings of the care of a young person in a psychiatric setting. Key to this was the articulacy of the interviewee and the fact she had waived anonymity. The interview was sensitively handled and the story-telling clear, methodical and supported by external evidence and wider comment.
New Award: The Gordon McVie Award for reporting cancer research — supported by Roche
Winner – Kat Arney
NEO.LIFE website: The sex, lies and videotape of cancer cells
This was original research, innovative, intriguing, and very cleverly written. We used the Gordon McVie test..was this exciting, was this original, was this simply explained, could this change mindsets?
The Dr David Delvin Award for sex and sexual health journalism — supported by Christine Webber
Winner – Patrick Strudwick
The i paper: Women are developing late-stage HIV, but face huge barriers to get anti-HIV drug PrEP
After reading this piece we couldn’t believe the issue hadn’t received more attention, providing clear insight into a little explored public health crisis. We believe this piece will lead to meaningful initiatives to improve the wellbeing of women affected
Highly Commended – Mark Thompson, Ashish Joshi, Rachel Lucas
This piece handled the topic with great sensitivity and balance, whilst also articulating the horrific impact of this practice without sensationalising the topic. The attention this piece brought to harms of virginity testing was undoubtedly a contributing factor in the legislative reform ever seen before
Podcast of the Year
Entrants submitted three episodes for judging
Winner – James Gallagher, Beth Eastwood, Geraldine Fitzgerald
BBC Sounds/BBC Radio 4: Inside Health
Episodes submitted: Long Covid revisited, New Years’ Resolutions, Covid vaccines: their legacy & vaccinating teens
James Gallagher, as presenter, had an easy to listen to style and regularly ‘spoke’ to the listeners asking them to feed back their views or submit questions – which felt very inclusive. Two of the three entries featured a good mix of lived experience and authoritative experts in discussion providing a good balance with the final entry looking into the future of vaccines in a very accessible way.
Highly Commended – Hilary Guite, Maria Cohut
Healthline Media’s Medical News Today: In Conversation
A HiViz Radio production for Healthline’s Medical News Today
Episodes submitted: Long-neuro-Covid, Blood transfusions- getting to the heart of the matter, What does the latest research say about multiple sclerosis?
Another series utilising lived experience. The first entry covering long Covid dealt very sensitively with an interviewee whose suffered series brain fog and loss of memory. In other episodes dialogue between those with lived experience and the expert provided an interesting format
Feature of the Year (specialist audience)
Winner – Amy Maxmen
Important, thorough, well-written and detailed piece tackling the thorny intersectionality of health inequalities that contributed to, and flew from the impact of the Covid pandemic. Quality journalism.
Highly Commended – Claire Ainsworth
Nature: Mark of Resistance
Clearly written and informative drawing on a number of evidence sources and case studies to paint a vivid picture of the stigma of living with Hep B.
Feature of the Year (broadcast)
Winner – Alys Cummings, Michael Buchanan, Eleanor Plowden, Diana Martin
BBC Panorama for BBC One: Maternity Scandal: Fighting for the Truth
This was a heart-breaking documentary which covered five years of investigations and a scandal spanning two decades causing the death and damage of babies. It sensitively used the tragic personal experiences of parents who had lost babies leading to the Ockenden report into midwifery and the ongoing casualties which continued even as the report was being made public.
Highly Commended – Fergus Walsh, Mike Radford, Tamsin-Lee Smith,
Agata Krasicka, Jennifer Shaw
BBC2 and BBC iPlayer: AstraZeneca: A Vaccine for the World?
BBC Current Affairs, commissioned by Joanna Carr and Jo Smith
This documentary cleverly and clearly lays out some of the genuine dilemmas and challenges around the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Feature of the Year (general audience) – supported by Mearns & Pike and IVI
Winner – Shaun Lintern
The Sunday Times: A fatal obsession.
Excellent and tireless reporting that scooped the on-diary story. In a year when we were spoilt for choice, this piece stood out because of the commitment of the journalist and the sensitivity of the reporting on an issue of concern to everyone.
Highly Commended – Rosie Taylor
Mail on Sunday: Why is the NHS still dishing out 10,000 prescriptions a year for the dangerous, banned painkiller co-proxamol?
Well researched and balanced feature – with a strong case study
News Story of the Year (specialist audience)
Winner – Peter Blackburn
The Doctor magazine: A fight for fairness
This powerful story of surgeon Omer Karim, recently subject to a tribunal judgement which found that the GMC racially discriminated against him, goes behind the growing data highlighting discrimination against ethnic minority healthcare professionals in the NHS. Catalytic and compassionate journalism at its best.
Highly Commended – Nicholas Carding
Health Service Journal: Watchdog says new hospital building programme is ‘unachievable’
An excellent piece of old school investigative reporting. Months of establishing contacts paid off with a high profile piece picked up by several national outlets.
News Story of the Year (broadcast)
Winner – Katie Goodman, Tessa Chapman, Christina Michaels
5 News: Eating Disorders in Children; huge rise in Tier 4 referrals
Excellent expose of the ticking time bomb of failing in mental health and eating disorder care. Outstanding expose of the exponentially growing problem of care for young people with eating disorders post covid.
Highly Commended – Louisa Felton, Rebecca Barry
ITV News: Traumatic births caused by a chronic shortage of midwives
Not a widely told story with strong human emotion. Sensitively told.
News Story of the Year (general audience) — supported by Vaxart
Winner – Kat Lay
The Times: MeToo moment for NHS as female surgeons speak out
Kat’s story and storytelling was essential reading written with empathy and force. It shone a light on a dark subject lurking in a dark place. An important story well told.
Case Study of the Year — supported by Medtronic
Winner – Katie Goodman, Ruth Liptrot
ITN for Channel 5 News: Long Covid Kids
Beautifully brought to life a little-known condition and demonstrated the devastating impact long Covid is having on children.
Highly Commended – Andrew Gregory
The Sunday Times: Young lives saved by world-first surgery
Andrew brought to life an amazing scientific breakthrough that will save hundreds of lives. Expertly written and well presented. Two fabulous case studies.
Highly Commended – Shaun Lintern
The Independent: Dozens of baby deaths after errors at one of UK’s largest hospitals
Shaun sensitively handled a harrowing series of care failures and brought to the public’s attention the shocking care that was provided. Expertly written with strong interviews.
Science Explained supported by Yakult
Winner – Lucy Elkins
Daily Mail: Grown in a lab, the mini organs that could save your life
Lively, well-paced and engaging story telling on bench to bedside science. An outstanding entry, packed with the people, scale and potential impact of the science.
Highly Commended – Kat Arney, Beth Sagar-Fenton, James Beard, Penny Murphy
BBC Radio 4: Ingenious Season 2 – Omnibus
Produced by the BBC Radio 4 Current Affairs unit
A great listen, weaving abstract concepts with beautiful story telling
Freelance of the Year — supported by Leigh Day
Entrants submitted three pieces of work for judging
Winner – Rosie Taylor
For her work published in the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
A solid and varied body of work, combining strong human interest with expert input. A fascinating investigation into why a banned drug is still being prescribed on the NHS was particularly powerful.
Highly Commended – Helen Gilbert
For her work published in MCA magazine, the Sun and Acuity magazine
Burnt Chef – this was a standout article. An excellent examination of mental illness in the high stress world of restaurants and professional kitchens.
Editor of the Year — supported by Real Chemistry
Entrants submitted three pieces of work for judging
Winner – Barney Calman
Health Editor, The Mail on Sunday
What possible justification is there for GPs still refusing to see patients face-to-face?
It’s the question everyone is asking and one of the most important for our post-pandemic NHS – why can’t patients see GPs? The MoS health section launched a punchy campaign on the continuing problem totally in tune with readers’ concerns with a slew of distressing stories from them. Features and news stories showed how to run a popular campaign – with commitment and gusto. There was a high quotient of comment but signposted and appropriate to the many talking points. The MoS entry package as a whole was focused, creative and often provocative, but for impact the GP access campaign stood out. Editing means making judgments: about readers, about the questions to put to those in power and about what to make of the answers – and Calman got the balance right.
Highly Commended – Jaimie Kaffash
Editor, Pulse
Building a Better General Practice
How systemic racism affects general practice
Private eyes on the prize
Giving us a positive light through which to view the prism of GP access, Pulse launched a new campaign for a better vision of the profession for GPs and patients. The aim was to offer positive thinking driven by GPs and create a context in which their skills could be used to revive primary care through simple changes. The constructive approach, a panel of GPs as a sounding board and GP surveys, led to a list of principles devised to make NHS leaders and ministers pay attention. Acknowledging that GPs were losing the PR war, Pulse made a creative stab at tackling the negative messages in a manner designed to serve both readers and patients.
Outstanding Contribution to Health or Medical Journalism – Supported by Bristol Myers Squibb, Principal Sponsor of the 2022 MJA Awards.
This award is not by self entry but chosen by the judges from entries across all categories
Winner – Alys Cummings, Michael Buchanan, Eleanor Plowden, Diana Martin
BBC Panorama for BBC One: Maternity Scandal: Fighting for the Truth
This was a heart-breaking documentary which covered five years of investigations and a scandal spanning two decades causing the death and damage of babies. It sensitively used the tragic personal experiences of parents who had lost babies leading to the Ockenden report into midwifery and the ongoing casualties which continued even as the report was being made public.
Winners of the Feature of the Year (broadcast) category
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