Five winners of a photography competition for NHS staff and volunteers to mark 75 years of the health service have been revealed at the FUJIFILM House of Photography, with images including long-serving nurse, ‘Mother Obe’, the NHS COVID-19 vaccination effort, and an ambulance battling the Beast from the East among the winning images.
The national competition, run by NHS England in partnership with Fujifilm, saw hundreds of the health service’s staff and volunteers from across the country enter photographs which told their unique stories of what the NHS means to them.
And the five winners, each of whom represents the broad range of professions across the health service, were picked from a shortlist of 75 photographs across five different categories, with their photographs displayed at the NHS’s 75th anniversary service at Westminster Abbey last week.
Emmanuel Espiritu of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust won the prize in the ‘Our People’ category for her image of Mother Obe, who has worked in the health service for 47 years
All of the 75 shortlisted images will also be displayed in an exhibition titled Our NHS at 75, held at the FUJIFILM House of Photography in Covent Garden, London, and now open to public viewing.
The competition saw hundreds of eye-catching images submitted, representing the full gambit of life across the NHS, with the winners selected by a six-strong judging panel as those that best represented the incredible care, expertise, and ingenuity that is continually evident in the health service up and down the country.
The winners include a portrait of a nurse at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital who has been looking after patients for 47 years.
Nurse Emmanuel Espiritu took the image, entitled ‘Dedication’, to take the prize for the ‘Our People’ category and depicts a nurse affectionally named ‘Mother Obe’ who is renowned for sharing nearly half a century of expertise as a mentor to new nurses.
This image by Jenny Brodie and Mary McConnell from the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Free Charity was the winner of the ‘Our Partners’ award
The winner of the ‘Our Innovations’ category, ‘The Solution’ by senior pharmacist at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Wasim Baqir, was taken on Christmas Eve 2020 during one of his shifts at an NHS COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Northumbria and shows hundreds of used vaccine vials in an orange sharps bin illustrating the NHS’s mammoth effort to deliver the vaccination programme.
And South Western Ambulance Service paramedic, Joe Cartwright’s, photograph of an ambulance battling snowy conditions as the Beast from the East hit the UK won the ‘Our Environment’ category, while Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's senior research nurse, Ewa Gasior’s winning image in the ‘Our Care’ category depicts the many hands that contribute to the delivery of patient care.
Finally, the winner of the ‘Our Partners’ category, by Jenny Brodie and Mary McConnell of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Free Charity, captures the touching moment Flo, a freelance hairdresser funded by the charity, provides one of her weekly cut and wash services to a grateful patient.
The image by Ewa Gasior from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust shows the kindness and compassion at the heart of NHS services
NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “This competition has provided the perfect opportunity for our incredible staff and volunteers to give a snapshot of life in the NHS, 75 years on from its inception – and we were amazed by the hundreds of brilliant, thought-provoking, and inspiring entries from NHS colleagues across the country.
“I want to offer my personal congratulations to the winners and everyone that took part – as we mark 75 years of the health service, your images will provide fantastic insight into life in our remarkable NHS throughout the exhibition and I cannot wait to see them in person.”
Tom Watanabe, managing director for Fujifilm UK, added: “As a proud partner to the NHS for many years, we are honoured to collaborate with them on this competition.
“We know from working with NHS colleagues up and down the country the passion they have for the health service, even in the most challenging of times, so we were delighted to help shine a spotlight on some of these fantastic stories.
“The exhibition will offer the public a unique opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes in our health service every day and it is a fitting way to mark 75 years of the NHS.”
The COVID-19 vaccination programme was the subject for this image by Wasim Baqir of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Companies:
- Fujifilm
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- NHS England
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS FT
- South Western Ambulance Service
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
