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NHS staff take the UK honours

Written by News Desk

Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Healthcare innovations put forward by NHS staff in the East of England swept the board at the National Technology Awards held in London with three out of the four first prizes being won by staff from the region. Health Enterprise East (HEE), the region’s NHS innovation hub, was one of nine similar organisations located throughout the UK, to put forward entries. Thirty regional finalists were selected from which the winners were chosen. Dr John Cockburn, consultant radiologist from the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust won first prize in the Medical Devices category for inventing a new technique to help destroy inoperable soft tissue tumours. Dr Claire Linge from the RAFT Institute of Plastic Surgery based at Mount Vernon Hospital won a first in the Diagnostics & Therapeutics category for her pioneering work in using insulin to reduce skin scarring after surgery, trauma or burns. Dr Raj Lakshman, a Specialist Registrar in Public Health at Cambridgeshire PCT won a first in the Publications & Media category for her innovation ‘Top Grub’, a healthy eating card game and resource pack for teachers to encourage children to understand food values and make healthy choices from an early age. The winners were each presented with a cheque for £4,000 by Professor Heinz Wolff of Brunel University and by entrepreneur and innovator of the wind-up radio, Trevor Baylis. Dr Peter Blenkinsop, chief executive HEE, said: “This is a great achievement for all NHS staff within the East of England who have come forward with ideas for products or service delivery innovations to improve the patient experience. To win three of the four first prizes is an exceptional result and underlines the creativity and commitment that comes from our region.”

 

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