Sarah Hughes Trust Prize


The Sarah Hughes Trust Prize is an annual prize in memory of the journalist Sarah Hughes.

In partnership with the Royal Society of Medicine and promoted together with the Medical Journalists Association, each year the prize recognises exceptional journalism that exposes false or misleading information – so-called ‘fake news’ – in health or medicine.

The 2024 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize was awarded to Jacklin Kwan for her exposé published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) highlighting a rise in concerning practices by some private biobanks. Her research for the article found some biobanks may be deceiving expectant parents about the value of banking their children’s umbilical cord blood by using misleading statements to market the procedure.

I'm incredibly honoured to have been chosen for this award. The methods of exposing misleading or deceptive news are only becoming more and more challenging in the current age of journalism. Prizes like this are needed more than ever to drive critical reporting in healthcare, which often employ thin veneers of scientific evidence to target people at their most desperate. - Jacklin Kwan 

The 2023 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize was awarded to Helen Puttick, a specialist reporter for The Times in Scotland. Helen’s successful submission, published in the Scottish edition of The Times, ran across three articles and challenged the Scottish government's claims on NHS waiting times.

The 2022 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize was awarded to BBC journalists Rachel Schraer and Jack Goodman for their exposé of the false science that fuelled belief in ivermectin as a ‘miracle drug’ for treating COVID-19.


2024 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize - Jacklin Kwan

To read the winning entry: https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1581

To read The Royal Society of Medicine and Medical Journalists’ Association Press Release:https://www.rsm.ac.uk/latest-news/2024/jacklin-kwan-wins-award-for-exposing-fake-healthcare-news/


2023 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize - Helen Puttick

To read The Royal Society of Medicine and Medical Journalists’ Association Press Release:https://www.rsm.ac.uk/latest-news/2023/the-times-reporter-wins-2023-sarah-hughes-trust-prize/

To read The Royal Society of Medicine event post: https://www.rsm.ac.uk/latest-news/2023/journalist-praises-brave-sources-as-she-receives-2023-sarah-hughes-trust-prize/


2022 Sarah Hughes Trust Prize – Rachel Schraer and Jack Goodman

To read the winning entry:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58170809

To read The Royal Society of Medicine and Medical Journalists’ Association Press Release: https://www.rsm.ac.uk/media-releases/2022/bbc-journalists-win-award-for-exposing-false-science-behind-covid-miracle-drug