Health Writing Awards 2009 shortlist announced
THE 2009 SHORTLIST for the Guild of Health Writers’ Writing Awards, for excellence in health writing, has been announced.
The winners will be announced at a presentation at Chandos House,
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
Best national newspaper health feature sponsored by Vitabiotics:
Jerome Burne - Mobiles - Are We Being Told The Facts? Daily Mail
Best consumer magazine health feature sponsored by Spink:
Elizabeth Adlam - The Picture That Saved A Baby’s Life Reader’s Digest
Lilian Anekwe – Incentive to cut referrals Pulse
Best online health contribution sponsored by The Nutri Centre:
John Lister – The beginning of the end, Morning Star online
Colleen Shannon – What is the neonatal unit?, BabyCentre.co.uk
Fergus Walsh – Fergus on Flu
Ellen Widdup – Surviving teenage cancer,
Best regional newspaper health feature sponsored by Medtronic:
Liz Bestic – The healing power of horses East Anglian Daily Times
Best freelance feature chosen from the above, sponsored by LighterLife.
JUDGES
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