The HealthWatch annual award is presented to someone who has made significant steps either in medical research or in improving the public’s understanding of health issues by clarifying complicated and often misunderstood medical matters for the general public.
The recipient addresses the Annual General Meeting of HealthWatch.
Since the 1997 award, the text of the lecture is available in our archives – just click on the name of the recipient of the award to read. And since 2020, all presentations are available on the HealthWatch YouTube channel.
We also present a series of awards to students of medicine and nursing and allied professions. Information about the HealthWatch Student Prize and past winners is in the student section of the website.
2021 David Spiegelhalter: Trustworthy communication of risk and evidence: the battle against naughty numbers in the news
2020 Jennifer Rogers: Can’t see the wood for the trees? Making sense of data during a global pandemic
2019 Faye Kirkland: Shining a light on areas of medicine that journalists – and patients – might not see
2018 Sarah Wollaston MP: From GP to MP: How to Lose Friends but try to Influence People
2017 Deborah Cohen: Poking your nose in where it's not wanted - the dark side of investigating healthcare
2016 Peter Gøtzsche: Why is it controversial to tell the truth about health care?
2015 Mark Porter: Why evidence matters
2014 Simon Singh: fighting for truth in science
Read
Dr Singh's lecture.
Photographs from the 2014 AGM
Photographs by Mandy Payne
2013 Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief, BMJ, for outstanding leadership in the pursuit of medical truth
2012 Tim Harford on behalf of the BBC More or Less team for their clear, honest and entertaining way of educating the public about the meaning of numbers
2011 Brian Deer: for contributing to the public’s understanding of health issues
2010 David Colquhoun: for his determined exposure of improbable science
2009 Iain Chalmers: for his critical contribution to EBM
2008 Margaret McCartney: for her promotion of evidence-based medicine in general practice
2007 Raymond Tallis: for his thoughtful promotion of evidence-based medicine
2006 Ben Goldacre: for exposure of bad science
Dr Goldacre's lecture is not available.
2005 Edzard Ernst: for his honest appraisal of CAM
2004 Richard Smith: for championing the independence of Medical Journalism
2003 Peter Wilmshurst: for his courage in challenging misconduct in academic medical research
2002 Michael Baum: for criticising Department of Health information on benefits of breast screening
2001 Claire Rayner: for her dedication to the public’s right to quality healthcare
2000 John Diamond: for his courageous and rational approach to therapies for his own illness
1999 Bernard Dixon: for his skill in presenting scientific arguments comprehensibly to the public
1998 Polly Toynbee: for her critical and informative reporting on healthcare matters
1997 Annabel Ferrriman: for her excellent medical journalism despite the stresses of that profession
1996 Sir Richard Doll: for his outstanding leadership over 50 years in clinical epidemiology
1995 David Sackett: for his pioneering work in support of evidence-based medicine
1994 Petr Skrabanek, awarded posthumously: for his critical analysis of both conventional and complementary therapies
Awarded posthumously.
1993 Geoff Watts: for his excellent understanding and accuracy when reporting issues of healthcare
