Writing Excellence - Healthcare Professionals

Summary of work

Clinical commissioners are pressed for time, short on money and confronted with many different deserving causes. Presenting evidence alone is not enough. Instead, evidence needs to be used to build a compelling story. It is also important that the story is told using the platforms on which commissioners wish to engage; there is little point in telling a story if no one is listening, or using language that does not resonate. In order to achieve this, traditional modes of communication alone are not enough.

This project was based on the insight that clinical commissioners often use channels not traditionally associated with the communication of complex clinical and economic issues and that, if you want to win arguments and change behaviour, you ignore these at your peril. It deftly used a range of written materials – from heavyweight reports to Twitter – to bring to life both the health and financial benefits of earlier diagnosis of cancer, doing so in a way that stimulated debate and encouraged action. The result is unprecedented levels of engagement from clinical commissioners in issues relating to the early diagnosis of cancer and national action to accelerate efforts to save lives and avert costs.

Judges comments

Extremely well argued and persuasive – this very readable and well-researched piece of work honestly highlighted a problem and generated good coverage. It was clear, logically laid out and was also very effective – being picked up by both media and government. In terms of relevance it was spot on, recognising that its audience might be time-poor and employed story telling to produce impressive outcomes.