Wednesday, 16 November
2011
Yesterday, almost 300 people crammed into the
auditorium at the Royal Society of Medicine for the 3rd annual
RCPsych Awards ceremony. The ceremony was expertly hosted by author
and actor Maureen Lipman, who told a series of hilarious jokes and
anecdotes about blondes, Freud and hemorrhoids.
As many of you will know, the RCPsych Awards
were founded by my predecessor, Professor Dinesh Bhugra, back in
2009 to recognise and reward excellence in psychiatry and mental
health services. Since then, they’ve become a real highlight of the
College calendar.
The entries we received this year were simply
outstanding, and once again it was a huge challenge for our judging
panels to draw up the shortlists. Being
shortlisted for the Awards is a great accomplishment in itself. But
in any competition, there have to be winners – and the audience
waited excitedly for winners to be announced.
We had many distinguished guests on hand to
present the awards, including RCGP President Dr Clare Gerada,
National Clinical Director for Mental Health Dr Hugh Griffiths,
Daily Mail health editor Jenny Hope, Academy of Medical
Royal Colleges chairman Professor Sir Neil Douglas, Medical
Education England chairman Professor Sir Christopher Edwards, and
former RCPsych Presidents Professor Dinesh Bhugra and Baroness
Hollins.
Those of you who follow the College on Twitter
will have seen us tweeting the names of the winners yesterday
as they were announced. For those who haven't seen them yet, here's
the full list of the 2011 winners:
- Core Psychiatric Trainee of the
Year – Dr Charlotte Allan, Oxford Health NHS Foundation
Trust
- Advanced Psychiatric Trainee of the
Year – Dr Kamran Ahmed, South London & Maudsley NHS
Foundation Trust
- Psychiatric Trainer of the
Year – Dr James Warner, Central & North West
London NHS Foundation Trust
- Public Educator of the Year
– Dr Peter Byrne, Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
- Mental Health Services Provider of
the Year – Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation
Trust
- Psychiatric Team of the Year
– Family Drug & Alcohol Court Intervention Team, Tavistock and
Portman NHS Foundation Trust
- Medical Manager/Leader of the
Year – Dr Angus Bell, Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS
Foundation Trust
- Psychiatrist of the Year –
Dr Claire Lawton, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation
Trust
- Lifetime Achievement Award –
Professor Hamid Ghodse CBE FRCPsych
After the ceremony, all the winners, nominees
and guests enjoyed a celebratory reception in the RSM's beautiful
atrium.
For the winners, I hope the accolade will
bring their work national recognition, help to raise staff and
service morale, and increase public awareness of how hard mental
health staff work every single day to improve the lives of service
users and carers.
In these tough economic times, it is not easy
to secure sponsorship for events. So I would like to thank all this
year’s sponsors for their generosity – many of whom have supported
the Awards since their inception:
- St Andrew’s Healthcare
- Cambridge University Press
- Oxford University Press
- Wiley-Blackwell
Yesterday marked the culmination of the 2011
Awards process – and today preparations start for 2012. A call for
entries will be made in January, and we will need your help to
spread the word and encourage the most exceptional individuals,
teams and services to apply. Keep your eyes out for information in
the new year.
Sue
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