The Irish Hospice Foundation, Temple Street Children's Hospital, Pfizer and the Irish Examiner were among the winners of last night's Irish Healthcare Awards, which took place at the Shelbourne Hotel. Nearly 100 entries were received for this year's Awards, which are now in their ninth year. Over 400 guests from the healthcare sector attended the gala event, addressed by Mary Harney TD, Minister for Health and Children.

The Irish Hospice Foundation won the Excellence in Healthcare Management Award for its innovative Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme - a five-year initiative run in partnership with the HSE. The programme was developed with the aim of changing the overall culture in relation to all aspects of dying, death and bereavement in hospitals.

Outcomes of the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme have included the development and implementation of 'Final Journeys', an interactive staff development programme, aimed at all hospital staff, the establishment of a Practice Development Framework to support the work of front-line staff in the care of patients and their families. In addition, as a result of the initiative, hospitals are now using a variety of resources to enhance the care at end of life to patients and their families. These include an End of Life Symbol to notify staff that a patient has died or is dying, a multi-denominational ward altar and information booklets for families and staff.

The Irish Examiner won the best overall prize 'An Duais Mhór', and Best Public Health Initiative for its powerful two-part supplement on suicide, published last year, the aim of which was to put a human face on a national crisis. The supplement covered real life stories from individuals affected by suicide as well as a support booklet written by professionals offering advice to those feeling suicidal. With more than 270,000 copies distributed nationwide with the paper and to schools, youth groups and community associations, the supplement ignited significant public debate on suicide on talk radio, TV as well as in the Dáil.

Member of the Awards judging panel Stephen McMahon, CEO of the Irish Patients Association, said the newspaper's front page "brought tears to his eyes", and the project overall showed a "deep understanding and commitment by an editorial and journalistic team that has done our society a great service".

The Children's University Hospital at Temple Street was awarded the Best Hospital Project for its 'W82GO! Healthy Lifestyles Programme', a family-based programme aimed at children who are overweight and obese and their parents. The programme sessions address specific topics, including healthy eating, the benefits of being active, portion sizes, parenting support and goal setting. It also provides a safe environment for children to exercise and become confident in movement. Age-appropriate games are played so that children can improve their fitness in a fun and inclusive manner.

Pfizer Healthcare, along with Wilson Hartnell Public Relations and Arthritis Ireland, was awarded Best Patient Education Project (Pharmaceutical) for its 'Easy to Use Arthritis Design Awards', an initiative for third-level students to develop and create everyday products that could make life 'easier' for people with rheumatoid arthritis. The Awards were developed to launch the Arthritis Ireland Easy to Use Commendation Programme, the first programme of its kind in Europe that identifies and encourages the development of products which are easy to open and use for people with mobility and dexterity difficulties.

Prof Colm O Moráin, consultant gastroenterologist at Tallaght Hospital and Dean of Health Sciences at TCD, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.

Prof O Moráin is one of Ireland's leading academic physicians, who has not only spearheaded groundbreaking research but has been at the forefront of introducing cancer screening programmes into Ireland.

A member, or past member of many academic institutions and numerous Irish, European and International bodies, he is on the Editorial Board of eight peer review journals and has published over 200 peer review articles throughout a long and illustrious career. Indeed, his research on Helicobacter Pylori infection dramatically altered the management of peptic ulcer disease worldwide. When he showed that eliminating the infection led to cure of the ulcers, routine operations for ulcers ended almost overnight.

Prof O Moráin is also an international expert on screening for bowel cancer, and has pioneered new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease. In September, as lead clinician on the Tallaght Hospital-Trinity College Dublin Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme, he released the results of the first two years of the bowel screening programme. Tallaght - the first hospital in the country to offer such a screening programme - believes the research offers a unique opportunity to assess, adjust and enhance proposed pathways, prior to the roll-out of a national programme.

Projects which were highly commended by the judging panel included 'Be Allergy Aware', submitted by the youngest ever Irish Healthcare Awards entrant, nine-year-old Edel Connolly and her older sister Louise. An anaphylaxis sufferer, Edel developed a campaign aimed at raising awareness of allergies. The suite of materials produced by the sisters included leaflets and a website, and the pair have given several talks on allergy awareness in schools.

Also commended by the judges was 'Truly Tasty', submitted by Abbott and the Cork Kidney & Company Limited, a recipe book developed specifically for adults with renal disease and those on dialysis. The book features modern recipes by a variety of well-known chefs, including Rachel Allen, Derry Clark, Clodagh McKenna and Kevin Dundon.

Pfizer, together with Glasgow Celtic Football Club, the HSE and the Larkin Centre for the Unemployed, were also recognised for their 'Men's Health and Wellbeing Programme' - a North Inner City Dublin community-based initiative aimed at encouraging men aged 30+ to take better care of their health and wellbeing.

Mr Dara Gantly, Editor, Irish Medical Times, organisers of the Irish Healthcare Awards, said: "The gala event is now in its ninth year, and this year's awards are the most successful yet, with more entries and a wider selection of groups, organisations and companies represented than ever before, from both the public and private sector. The excellent calibre of winners and highly commended projects reflects the high standard of work carried out in the health service and in the healthcare industry."

The long-established Irish Healthcare Awards are Ireland's premier awards in the area of health and medicine. They are run on an annual basis by Irish Medical Times. The awards recognise originality, excellence and innovation in healthcare in areas such as patient education, pharmaceutical innovation, healthcare collaboration and patient support. Entries come from individuals and institutions in acute and primary care, public health, the private sector and other sectors who have an interest in healthcare.

Source:
Irish Medical Times