We are delighted to announce the winners of the first Dr Falk Ireland  SpR and IBD Nurse Awards.

The winners, SpRs Dr Ciaran Judge, Dr Clodagh Murphy and  IBD Nurses Mary Hamzawi and Emma Anderson, were formally notified at the IBD Nurses Association of Ireland (IBDNAI) virtual meeting in November, by gastroenterologist Dr Aoibhlinn O’Toole.

Dr Riadh Jazrawi, Medical Director of Dr Falk Pharma UK commented:

‘The entries to this Award demonstrated the huge talent, dedication and innovative thinking that is clearly widespread amongst the Irish GI and IBD Nursing community. We really enjoyed learning about the many exciting clinical and patient led projects being developed in Ireland and are proud that we can support our four worthy winners through their prize money. We are certainly looking forward to the 2021 Awards already.’

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The Dr Falk Pharma/ Guts UK Awards, in partnership with the charity Guts UK, have been running in the UK since 2006, to reward and encourage UK based doctors, nurses and dietitians who have demonstrated excellence within the fields of digestive and metabolic disease.

We were therefore pleased, in 2020, to extend these awards for Specialist Registrars (StRs) and IBD / liver nurses based in Ireland. The winners of each category receive financial support, to enable them to continue with their chosen work as well as a chance to share their project with their peers.

The SpR (StR) Award, run in conjunction with the SpR Training Scheme,  is designed to encourage young doctors to consider quality improvement projects that address an area of clinical need within gastroenterology, pancreatology, liver disease or nutrition and that also demonstrate clear patient benefit.

Similarly, the IBD Nurse Awards will look to recognise an initiative which has improved patient care in these fields. This award is supported by the IBD Nurses Association of Ireland.

Information on how to enter the 2021 Awards will be available shortly.

SpR Awards Ireland

SpR Awards Ireland

The SpR Award winner was Dr Ciaran Judge, GI SpR at St James Hospital, Dublin, for his project entitled ‘A National Strategy for Virtual Treatment of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.’

Please click here to view Dr Judge’s Award Summary.

Dr Judge commented, ‘It is important to encourage and stimulate creativity in a clinical setting and this award gives great reassurance to all the clinicians who endeavour to create projects for patient improvement.

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‘It tells us that our efforts are recognised, that our projects are important and encourages us to continue this work. I would like to say thank you to Dr Falk for your recognition of this project on both a personal and professional level’.

The  SpR Award runner up was Dr Clodagh Murphy, a final year GI SpR at the Mater University Hospital, Dublin, for her project entitled ‘Setting up a Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) Service in Cork University Hospital to provide patients with a recognised treatment option for Clostridioides Difficile.

Please click here to view Dr Murphy’s Award Summary.

Dr Murphy commented, ‘I would really like to thank Dr Falk Pharma for supporting this award which has provided me with the opportunity to pursue my work in FMT, an area of GI about which I am passionate. I am also very grateful to the entire FMT team at CUH and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork who were extremely supportive of my role in the project.’

Nurse Awards Ireland

Nurse Awards Ireland

The Award winner was Ms Mary Hamzawi, a Clinical Nurse Specialist at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin for her project entitled ‘The Development of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach to establish a patient-focused adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) clinic for 16–24 year olds.’
Please click here for Ms Hamzawi’s Award summary and here to watch Ms Hamzawi receive the Award .
Ms Mary Hamzawi, commented ‘I am truly delighted to win the Dr Falk IBD Nurse Recognition Award and I would like to thank the wonderful team who supported me in this project. It has been a real pleasure to be part of this project and I would encourage any other nurses to enter the awards.’
The Award runner up was Ms Emma Anderson, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Nurse Specialist at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, for her project entitled ‘IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) Diary’.

Please click here for Ms Anderson’s Award summary and here to watch Ms Anderson receive the Award.

Awards

The Dr Falk/Guts UK Awards were launched in 2007. Find out more about the Awards; view the previous winners, read summaries of their research and find out about this year’s Dr Falk/Guts UK Awards and how to enter.

Dr Falk/Guts UK

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Comprehensive information on the Dr Falk Pharma product range can be found here (products licensed in the UK and Ireland).

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