Baroness Elaine Murphy has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists during their annual awards ceremony, held virtual awards ceremony for the first time due to COVID-19.
The awards mark the highest levels of excellence and achievement within the field of psychiatry, and are given to the Psychiatrist of the Year, Patient Contributor of the Year and Psychiatric Team of the Year, among others.
Baroness Murphy trained as a psychiatrist and went on to become the first Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, based at Guy's Hospital. She is now a crossbench peer in the House of Lords where she takes a particular interest in mental health and ageing issues.
She held the post of Chair of the North East London Strategic Health Authority and is a Vice-President of the Alzheimer’s Society.
Dr Adrian James, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “If anyone deserves a Lifetime Achievement Award it is Baroness Murphy. She is a pioneering academic psychiatrist who edited the pre-eminent journal for her specialty of old age psychiatry. Improving outcomes and experience for patients has always been central to all she has done in her career.
“But it is her role as a medical manager for which she will be most remembered, rising to the top not only in the mental health sector but also across the whole of the medical profession. She always projects such positivity and seems to enjoy everything she does which I know inspires so many others. She is a world-leading psychiatrist, academic, manager and leader and it is wonderful to be able to recognise her through this award.”
Commenting on her award, Baroness Murphy said: “My surprise and gratitude for this honour are genuinely heartfelt. I have always, no matter where my career has taken me, been proud to be a member of the College, and felt it provided me with the foundation of my approach to medicine and in later years to management, then to politics.
“In recent years the College has achieved so much in lessening the stigma of mental ill health, inspiring young doctors to become psychiatrists and in building alliances for the good of patients and their families. I am immensely proud to have been chosen for this award.”
Professor Henrietta Bowden-Jones received the coveted Psychiatrist of the Year award. She has made an exceptional contribution to both services for the treatment of people addicted to gambling and to academic knowledge in this area. She has also provided inspirational leadership to the Medical Women's Federation.
The full list of award winners:
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Baroness Elaine Murphy
- Psychiatrist of the Year: Professor Henrietta Bowden-Jones
- PsychSoc of the Year: Sheffield PsychSoc
- Foundation Doctor of the Year: Dr Maxime Taquet
- Core Psychiatric Trainee of the Year: Dr Georgina Corbet Burcher
- Higher Psychiatric Trainee of the Year: Dr Emmert Roberts
- Patient Contributor of the Year: Elliott Bernard-Cooper
- Psychiatric Communicator of the Year: Dr Hisham Ziauddeen
- Psychiatric Educator of the Year: Dr Alex Thomson
- Dr B L Sharda Memorial Academic Researcher of the Year: Professor James MacCabe
- Specialty Doctor/Associate Specialist of the Year: Dr Syed Naqvi
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (CAMHS): Adolescent Community Treatment Service (ACTS), Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (Working-age adults): Redcar & Cleveland Community Affective Disorders Service, Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (Older-age adults): Care Home Pathway, Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (Intellectual Disability): Camden Learning Disability Service, Camden Local Authority and Camden and Islington Foundation Trust
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (Quality Improvement): TSH3030, The State Hospital, NHS Scotland
- Psychiatric Team of the Year (Outstanding commitment to sustainable service development): CWTCH - Connecting With Telehealth to Children in Hospital & Healthcare, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
For further information, please contact:
- Email: press@rcpsych.ac.uk
- Twitter: @rcpsych
- Out-of-hours contact number: 07860 755896