13th October 2023
Award-winning research recognised at Health and Care Research Wales’ annual conference
Health and social care researchers from across Wales have been celebrated at the Health and Care Research Wales Awards 2023.
The awards, presented at Health and Care Research Wales’ conference on 12 October, recognised Wales’ innovative and inspirational research community, with awards presented for work across such diverse areas as lower-limb amputation, interpretation needs in health settings for those seeking sanctuary, long COVID and pain relief in palliative care.
Awards were presented in four categories: the Impact Award, Rising Research Star Awards, Public Involvement Award and Innovation in Practice Award, a new category for 2023.
They were presented by Professor Kieran Walshe, Director of Health and Care Research Wales, who said:
These awards recognise the very best from our research community, showcasing the work that is not only making a different to the health and social care research happening in Wales but also to the lives of its citizens.
“We were delighted to receive a record number of submissions this year from all parts of our research community. They were of a very high standard, which meant picking the overall winners was no easy task for our judging panels.
“I’d like to congratulate all of our winners, the runners up and those who were highly commended for their inspiring submissions.”
Health and Care Research Award winners 2023
Public Involvement Award – LISTEN, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University –Fiona Leggat
This award recognised the research that has involved the public in a meaningful and innovative way.
The LISTEN study evaluated a new self-management support programme for people with long COVID, co-designed by people living with the condition.
The judges said LISTEN had meaningful public involvement from its inception through to its conclusion, adding “this project has the public at the heart of it” and “really did listen to what they had to say.”
Ffion Davies accepted the award on behalf of the LISTEN team. Ffion said:
I was really privileged to accept this award on behalf of the team. To be acknowledged for Public Involvement is wonderful; the team worked so hard on that aspect of the trial.
“Public involvement is such an important part of research: including diverse backgrounds, different people’s knowledge and different levels of expertise helps shape a trial that is hopefully effective.
“The codesign group that came together incorporated different people, experiences, backgrounds and helped to get the LISTEN study to where it was. It was a very important aspect of the trial.”
Impact Award: HEAR 2, Dr Ashra Khanom, Senior Research Fellow, Wales Centre for Primary and Emergency Care Research (PRIME Centre Wales)
This award recognised the difference that health and social care research is making to people’s lives in Wales.
The HEAR 2 study investigated how well interpretation needs of adult asylum seekers and refugees are met in primary and emergency care in Wales. It builds on the work of the previous HEAR study to inform practice for other groups with language and communication needs.
The judges said the research is “making an impact on improving services and experiences for this severely disadvantaged group”, as well as being impressed with the quality of the diversity, inclusion, public involvement and clear engagement of policy stakeholders.
Dr Khanom said:
I’m really delighted to receive this award on behalf of the team. Everybody’s worked so hard; we had so many components and it was a whole team effort.
“The study was picked up by Welsh Government [and] within one month of dissemination we were involved in policy development and putting a scoping document together around the recommendations from HEAR 2. We’ve got the Wales Interpretation and Translation Service involved and they’ve revamped their whole training programme and we’re developing an access card that will cover all disabilities as well as language needs. There’s a Welsh health circular that has gone out to all the health boards in Wales to say that staff need to be aware of people’s language needs and provide interpretation and translation where possible. It’s seen rapid movement thanks to Welsh Government’s enthusiasm.”
Dr Khanom also thanked the third sector organisations involved in HEAR 2 who were “instrumental” in supporting the study’s peer researchers.
Innovation in Practice Award: CARiAD – Dr Marlise Poolman, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, North Wales Centre for Primary Care Research, Bangor University
This award recognised the ways in which research teams and individuals have made an impact during development, delivery or implementation and the value it has brought to people’s lives.
The CARiAD study explored the benefits of training family members or loved ones to give as-needed medication to someone dying at home, rather than having to wait for a doctor or nurse to give an injection.
The judging panel called this “an excellent example of a holistic approach to end-of-life care” with a huge impact on carers and their loved ones. It reduced waiting times for symptom control from 105 to 10 minutes, something “especially important in rural areas” of Wales.
Dr Julia Hiscock accepted the award on behalf of the study team. Dr Hiscock said:
This project was just so important and we really believed in it. The carers we’ve talked to who’ve done the task with their loved ones are unanimously pleased they had the chance to do this. It feels a powerful and important study and something really helping people at a difficult time of their lives.
“When people are at the end of their lives, they could wait a really long time for district nurses to come in rural areas to help control pain. It’s also horrible for the people around them who want to care and help. So many people said the study helped them feel they did everything they could for their loved ones.”
Rising Research Star Award: Mr David Bosanquet, consultant vascular surgeon and Honorary Senior Lecturer, South East Wales Vascular Network and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
This award honoured an individual in the early stages of their health or social care research career who is already making significant contributions to their field.
The judges said that Mr Bosanquet was someone who had “clearly navigated and progressed research in his field of vascular surgery alongside his clinical career”, and whose “leadership and collaboration with the research community and public involvement had resulted in real benefits to patients.” They particularly commended how, following his initial investment from Health and Care Research and Wales he had gone “from strength to strength, reaching areas of unmet need” and his success as Chief Investigator in a major, UK-wide NIHR trial.
Mr Bosanquet said:
I’m delighted to have won this award. With amputation research you can really change patient outcome on a large scale.
“We did a top 10 research priorities for amputation surgeries in collaboration with other UK colleagues and the information we received was that patients want to be buddied up with someone with lived experience. Again it highlights how important it is to ask patients what they think. As a direct [result] of what patients said, we changed things so that every single patient on PLACEMENT, a 650-patient randomised control trial, was informed about the Limbless Associations’ free peer-to-peer support programme.
“I’d love for Wales to be a centre of amputation research. We’ve done PERCIEVE and we’re now kicking off PLACEMENT – let’s see how far we can get.”
The winners will each be awarded funding of up to £250 to attend a training course, conference, workshop or similar event to develop an area of their research skillset.
Runners Up:
Public Involvement Award
Martina Svobodova and Dr Nina Jacob, Research Associates, Centre for Trials Research
Public Involvement Award
Dr Ashra Khanom, Senior Research Fellow, PRIME Centre Wales, Swansea University
Alisha Newman, PIRIT Dissemination and Implementation Lead, Cardiff University
Natalie Joseph-Williams, Associate Director, Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre
Innovation in Practice Award
Kendal Smith, Finance Partner, Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC)
Dr Victoria Shepherd, Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff University
Rising Research Star Award
Adam Williams, Research Association, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University
Helen Munro, Consultant in Community Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Hywel Dda University Health Board