16 July 2015

BIR/Bayer ‘Make it Better’Service Award prize is presented at UKRC 2015

Sheffield Children’s Hospital team win first prize in service improvement award

Doctors Elspeth Whitby, Marta Cohen, AmakaOffiah and Ashok Raghavan from Sheffield Children’s Hospital have been awarded the BIR/Bayer ‘Make it Better’ Service Award for their work in establishing the world’s first minimally invasive autopsy service for the foetal and neonatal age group, based on MRI. The team were presented with the £1000 prize and plaque by Dr David Wilson, President, BIR and Ute Kallenbach, Northern Regional Business Manager from Bayer HealthCare.

Highly commended certificates were awarded as follows:

  • Nick Woznitza and team (Homerton University Hospital) for developing a radiographer-led plain imaging neonatal reporting service.
  • Karen Reid and team (Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital)for a cost-effective system of training radiographers to perform and assess all aspects of the cardiac scan and be competent in advanced practice.
  • Aileen Flavin and team (Cork University Hospital) for support for patients in a Rapid Access Palliative Clinic.
  • Kath Tyler (The Walton Centre, Liverpool) for support for patients with claustrophobia.

Dr David Wilson, President of the BIR, said “We were hugely impressed with the wide range of innovative service improvement ideas presented for this award and it was a real challenge for the judging panel to select an overall winner”.

Andreas Ackermann, Country Divisional Head Radiology UK, Bayer HealthCare, said “We are honoured to support this award. It’s very rewarding to see the effort and creativity put into improving the patient experience, which we hope can be shared as examples of best practice.”

Bayer HealthCare will be supporting this award again in 2015/16 and applications are now welcome. The closing date is 28 February 2016.

More information about the winners of the BIR/Bayer ‘Make it Better’ award can be found on the BIR website

Photograph: (Left to right) Dr Ashok Raghavan, Dr AmakaOffiah, Dr Marta Cohen, Dr Elspeth Whitby, Dr David Wilson, Ute Kallenbach (Northern Regional Business Manager, Bayer HealthCare) and Zoe Morton (Business Development and Marketing Manager, MRI, Bayer HealthCare).

Notes to Editors

About The British Institute of Radiology

  • The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) is an independent multidisciplinary organisation, and a registered charity, whose membership is open to everyone with an interest in radiology and radiation oncology.
  • The British Institute of Radiology is the oldest radiological society in the world.
  • We strive to ensure that the potential of image science and radiation technology to prevent, detect and combat disease is fully realised. We believe in the importance of research and education, and we promote collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and understanding.
  • To help fulfil our aims, we undertake a wide range of activities, including publishing, the organisation of scientific meetings and conferences and the provision of library and information services.

Registered Charity No: 215869

For information about this release please contact:

Carole Cross

Communications Manager

48-50 St John Street

London EC1M 4DG

Tel. 020 3668 2224

Mobile 07963 200147 (out of office hours)

Bayer HealthCare provides financial support for the Make it Better Award but has no influence over the BIR’s choice of nominees or recipients for the award

L.GB.COM.07.2015.11879Date of Preparation: July 2015