Excellence in Media Relations

Summary of work

Our client had been working with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to implement an end-to-end digital pathology (DP) service – one of the first of its kind globally. But they were not receiving the same level of attention as their competitors in the UK specialist media. The Leeds pathology team was keen to share its experiences with others and champion DP – yet by their own admission, had not been great at promoting the major strides forward they have made.

Our campaign united both organisations around a common goal – demonstrating what DP could mean for patients in the future – patients who often have anxious waits for their diagnoses. We turned a routine Board Meeting into a celebratory event – offering a unique behind the scenes tour of the department for carefully targeted media and creating an opportunity for the Leeds team to inspire other hospitals to follow its impressive lead.

We succeeded against all our objectives – achieving quality coverage in the right titles (targeted at pathology and hospital C-Suite audiences), securing a spot on the local BBC News bulletin, gaining endorsement from the Royal College of Pathologists and even inspiring Health Secretary Matt Hancock to include the Pathology Department in an already packed-out visit to Leeds.

Judges' comments

This entry was really strong on strategy, objectives, channels and creativity. The creative side was really good, well done and it met the objectives. It was a well written entry, well thought out strategy and the communications were great. It felt honest and was a good representation of what we wanted to see in this category.