RJAH team aim to muscle in on top spot of national award

The Neuromuscular at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital has been shortlisted for a prestigious award for the standard of work it has undertaken as part of a pioneering national project.

The team – which treats children and adults with Muscular Dystrophy and other neuromuscular conditions – is in the running for the Genomics and Precision Medicine Award at the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN)’s second annual Celebration of Innovation awards.

They will find out if they’ve taken the title at the award ceremony which is taking place at the Hilton Metropole at Birmingham’s NEC on 20 July.

The awards were established to recognise and celebrate the work of individuals and organisations in developing better healthcare and increasing wealth for local people, and the ceremony will provide an opportunity to champion the achievements from across the West Midlands.

More than 100 entries were submitted across the 12 categories, which will now be assessed by a panel of experts to choose the eventual winner.

The team at the Oswestry-based hospital has been shortlisted as part of their work for the 100,000 Genomes Project - a Government funded programme using genetics to help improve knowledge and treatment of rare diseases.

RJAH signed up to join the project at the end of last year, which is led regionally by the West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre. Samples of DNA are taken from consenting patients and their family members, which are then sequenced to look for genes related to diseases such as muscular dystrophy

Dr Tracey Willis, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at RJAH, said: “We’re all absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for this award.

“We put ourselves forward for this award after one of the promoters of the project came along to our first clinic to see how it was run, and he said he was impressed by how we integrated it into our own clinic here, and that he would like to see other centres work with our kind of set-up.

“It would be fantastic to win it, as I believe the top prize is £10,000 which would go into more admin or a nurse to help with the clinic. I guess we’ll have to wait and see now!”

Dr Christopher Parker, Managing Director of the WMAHSN, said: “We are delighted that the Muscle Team at RJAH has been shortlisted in the Genomics and Precision Medicine category.

“More than 100 entries were submitted and while it was a very tough decision to shortlist entries in the light of such a strong field, the other judges and I were in agreement that RJAH’s entry showed an astonishing breadth of scope and an approach that is truly innovative, transforming patient care, providing solutions to significant challenges and breaking down barriers across our region.

“It was truly inspiring to be involved with judging the awards, and I am looking forward to seeing the eventual winners announced at the Celebration of Innovation Event with enthusiasm.”