The Independent’s Shaun Lintern wins health journalist of the year at National Press Awards
The Independent’s health correspondent Shaun Lintern has been named the Health Journalist of the Year at the National Press Awards 2019.
After joining The Independent in October 2019, Lintern has landed a string of exclusive stories, including an agenda-setting exposé of the biggest maternity care scandal in the history of the NHS.
The story of the failures at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust between 1979 and 2017 in which dozens of mothers and babies died, was praised by the Society of Editors, which organises the annual awards.
They described the findings as “one of the most shocking health scandals of recent times”.
Other exclusive stories that contributed to the award included hospitals being forced to fight illegal drug dealing on their wards and a 12-year-old girl forced to wait more than 50 hours in A&E for a bed.
Lintern said: “It's fantastic to be recognised by the Society of Editors and especially for the work we have done on maternity safety in the NHS.
“It's a privilege to be able to produce strong public interest journalism that matters both to the wider public and the bereaved families and NHS staff who trust me with their information.”
He added: “It's a very strange time to be a health journalist. I was working on coronavirus stories from my living room when I found out about winning this award. I’m hoping I can get out and celebrate soon.”
The Society of Editors said: “For coverage of one of the most shocking health scandals of recent times – the exclusive investigation into the scale of maternity care failures in the Shrewsbury trust. Health Journalist of the Year is The Independent’s Shaun Lintern.
“They were thorough and compelling investigations that secured compelling information to ring alarm bells about the state of NHS performance.”
Christian Broughton, editor of The Independent, said that “Shaun has made a truly remarkable impact in such a short time at The Independent.”
“His coverage of maternity care was in a class of its own, and his insight and contacts have proved invaluable during the coronavirus pandemic. Those contacts within the healthcare sector clearly respect and trust Shaun to represent their situations fairly, and his editors can trust him never to push a headline too far or take a quote out of context.
“As he said in a recent interview, journalists are most valuable to society in a time of crisis. We know that Shaun will continue to prove his worth to our readers in the months to come.”
Laura Donnelly of The Daily Telegraph was highly commended in the same category.
The winners of the National Press Awards were announced online rather than postponed until an event later in the year "to ensure the hard work and professionalism shown by the national press during 2019 does not go unrecorded," the chair of the judges has said.
Alison Gow, president of the Society of Editors, added: "It's absolutely right that we celebrate the brilliant journalism of the past year and show our appreciation of those reporters, photographers, digital specialists and designers who work so hard to inform, challenge and entertain.
"Congratulations to the winners – I hope you take a little time amid all the craziness to celebrate what you've achieved.
"We thought 2019 was a busy year for news – 2020 has made an early bid for that crown. As a result (whether they appreciate them or not) audiences have never needed journalists more.
"From fast, accurate delivery of breaking news to the escapism of a fantastic long read or podcast that takes us outside of our little lockdown bubbles for a few minutes, the role of the journalist is as vital as it's ever been.
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Dozens of mother and baby deaths in largest ever NHS maternity scandal
