Freelance health writer and former Guild secretary Judy Hobson has won the Excellence in Cancer Reporting award 2009. Judy was presented with her award during a ceremony recognising excellence in oncology in Birmingham at the conclusion of the National Cancer Research Institute conference.

The judges said: “Judy’s articles enabled those suffering from cancer or whose loved one has cancer to keep informed about research and treatment breakthroughs. Her stories arm them with facts and give hope.”

They were impressed by her carefully researched articles covering a range of different cancers throughout the year. “Her style is engaging, with excellent use of case studies and interview with leading specialists and patient groups. Judy explains technical issues very clearly and carefully sets the context for new developments, comparing them to existing options and outlining the hurdles they have to overcome before they are used in practice.”

Judy writes every month in Choices magazine and contributes to health sections of national newspapers and magazines.

Guild member Barbara Lantin was also highly commended for article on mesothelioma for The Times online. The judges said it was a dramatic article tackling a controversial area of cancer and balanced the need to be factual with sensitivity.

The awards were organised and funded by Pfizer in association with the British Oncological Association.

The winners and runners-up of the six categories were given their prizes by Guild president Dr Michael Dixon, a GP and health adviser to the Prince’s Trust. Winners received a cheque for £700 and runners-up £300, and a certificate.

Dr Dixon commented: ‘I was amazed by the wide range and standard of all of the articles and to have a record number of 300 entries is a real achievement.’

The award-winning entries appeared in a diverse range of publications, including the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph magazine, Reader’s Digest, the Morning Star and The Psychologist. Full details below.

Best national newspaper health feature sponsored by Vitabiotics:

WINNER Jane Feinmann
When A Trainee Surgeon Was Let Loose On This Little Girl
Daily Mail, 6th June 2009

RUNNER UP Victoria Lambert
Made To Save - the issue of saviour siblings
Daily Telegraph, 7th March 2009

Best consumer magazine health feature sponsored by Spink:

WINNER Susannah Hickling
Don’t Get Sick After Dark
Reader’s Digest, November 2007

RUNNER UP Elizabeth Adlam
The Picture That Saved A Baby’s Life
Reader’s Digest, March 2009

Best trade and specialist publication feature sponsored by Viridian Nutrition Ltd:

WINNER Dr Christian Jarrett
When therapy causes harm
The Psychologist Magazine, January 2008

RUNNER UP Nick Warburton
Crocodile Fears
Environmental Health Practitioner, January 2009

Best online health contribution sponsored by The Nutri Centre:

WINNER Fergus Walsh
Fergus on Flu
BBC.co.uk, 26th June 2008

RUNNER UP John Lister
The beginning of the end
The Morning Star online, 16th March 2009

Best regional newspaper health feature sponsored by Medtronic:

WINNER Clare Semke
Fighting Alzheimer’s
The Portsmouth News, 23rd March 2009

RUNNER UP Tom Shepherd
Justice for our cancer patients
Oxford Mail, 4th February 2009

Best freelance feature, sponsored by LighterLife:

WINNER Jane Feinmann
When A Trainee Surgeon Was Let Loose On This Little Girl
Daily Mail, 6th June 2009

RUNNER UP Susannah Hickling
Don’t Get Sick After Dark
Reader’s Digest, November 2007

THE 2009 SHORTLIST for the Guild of Health Writers’ Writing Awards, for excellence in health writing, has been announced. A record number of entries were received from journalists with over 300 items submitted by more than 100 health writers vying for prize money of £6,000.

The winners will be announced at a presentation at Chandos House, London on October 13.

Subjects that made it on to the shortlist ranged from surviving teenage cancer to the implications of saviour siblings and other aspects of fertility and IVF. Intriguing insights into the psychology of space exploration and the potential harm that popular talking therapies can cause also featured.

Ongoing concern about mobile phones and gas poisoning, were also among the topics covered by shortlisted health writers.

Topical headline-hitting features about swine flu and the effects of alcohol are also subjects of writers on the shortlist alongside ethical concerns about genetic engineering and nanotechnology.

Serious issues for the NHS such as targets to reduce GP referrals and A&E provision, plus the role of generic drugs, were to the fore along with contrasting highly personal stories by writers sharing their emotional experiences of health crises.

“Some subjects I had not seen written about before,” said one of the judges, GP, writer and broadcaster Dr Rob Hicks “and it is very brave of writers to share some of their personal health experiences.”

Regional campaigns for cancer drugs not approved by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and availability of treatment for Alzheimer’s patients also featured along with quirky, illuminating and wry features such as the health and safety issues of crocodile farming.

“I was particularly impressed by the work from the trade and specialist publications - it deserves a wider audience.”  said judge Justine Hancock, editor of Good Health, Daily Mail.

A wide range of national and regional newspapers, consumer magazines, specialist publications and web sites are among the publishers of the shortlisted work including the Daily Mail; Telegraph and Independent.

“All the shortlisted national newspaper features were well written, informative and of practical value,” said Kathryn Bingham, editor at the NHS Choices website. “Some were also moving and powerful.”

Magazines which published work in the running for the best consumer magazine health feature were: Easy Living; Reader’s Digest; Candis; Boots Health and Beauty and Cosmopolitan.

“Journalists are especially keen to win a Guild Writing Award because they are judged by fellow professionals and experts,” said Paul Dinsdale, chair of the Guild of Health Writers.

AWARD SHORTLIST

First prize £700, second prize £350

Best national newspaper health feature sponsored by Vitabiotics:

Jerome Burne - Mobiles - Are We Being Told The Facts? Daily Mail

Tanith Carey - Scarred Before They Were Born - The Babies Cut By C- sections Daily Mail

Lucy Elkins - Could Gas Poisoning Be Making You Ill? Daily Mail

Jane Feinmann - When A Trainee Surgeon Was Let Loose On This Little Girl Daily Mail

Victoria Lambert - Made To Save - the issue of saviour siblings Daily Telegraph

Anna Magee - Hidden Health Risks for Children of Sperm Donors Daily Mail

Best consumer magazine health feature sponsored by Spink:

Elizabeth Adlam - The Picture That Saved A Baby’s Life  Reader’s Digest

Jerome Burne - The Truth About CJD Candis

Omega Douglas - Fertility: The Whole Story Easy Living

Susannah Hickling - Don’t Get Sick After Dark  Reader’s Digest

Martha Roberts - Having A Single Twin Is A Bittersweet Experience Mail on Sunday

Faye Louise Rowe - This Breakthrough Will Help Save Lives  Boots Health and Beauty

Jacqui Thornton - Too Scared For Sex Cosmopolitan

 Best trade and specialist publication feature sponsored by Viridian Nutrition Ltd:

Lilian Anekwe – Incentive to cut referrals Pulse

Neil Hallows – Fancy another BMA News

Dr Christian Jarrett - When therapy causes harm The Psychologist Magazine

Katharine Sanderson – Emissions control Nature

Nick Warburton – Crocodile Fears Environmental Health Practitioner

Alison Whyte – A serious ethical dilemma Nursing Standard

Best online health contribution sponsored by The Nutri Centre:

John Lister – The beginning of the end, Morning Star online

Anouk Lorie – CNN helps surgeon perform lifesaving op, cnn.com

Colleen Shannon – What is the neonatal unit?, BabyCentre.co.uk

Fergus Walsh – Fergus on Flu, bbc.co.uk

Ellen Widdup – Surviving teenage cancer, www.childrenfirst.co.uk

Best regional newspaper health feature sponsored by Medtronic:

Liz Bestic – The healing power of horses East Anglian Daily Times

Janet Boyle – Out of body Op cured little Katherine’s cancer The Sunday Post

Liz Perkins – Small technology is going to be huge South Wales Evening Post

Clare Semke – Fighting Alzheimer’s The Portsmouth News

Tom Shepherd – Justice for our cancer patients Oxford Mail

Best freelance feature chosen from the above, sponsored by LighterLife.

JUDGES

Paul Dinsdale, Chairman, Guild of Health Writers

Justine Hancock, Editor, Good Health, Daily Mail

Lee Rodwell, Health Editor Take A Break

Dr Rob Hicks, GP and journalist

Liz Hodgkinson, Journalism lecturer and writer

Sarah Boseley, 2007 Winner and Guardian health editor

Kathryn Bingham, Editor at NHS Choices website

The Guild would like to express its thanks to its outgoing President, Dr Miriam Stoppard.

Judy’s entry in the general medical consumer news category earned the judges’ praise for its “outstanding contribution to journalism”. The piece, headlined “Sight-saving op brings new hope” appeared in Yours magazine in July, and described a new operation for macular degeneration, an eye disease common in older people.

The judges said her entry was “a well-followed up story, focussing on a widespread disease in need of new treatments”.

The winner was Mark Henderson, science editor of The Times, for a story entitled: “Novel diabetes therapy paves way for personalised medicine.”

Well done, Judy!

See The World Health Youth (WHY) Communication Network on environment and health to find out more.
 

Read Simon Crompton’s award-winning articles in The Times:
Robotic surgery: the machine that cuts out cancer
The fast-track cancer cures

Read more about the European School of Oncology.