Avicenna Awards 2023
Carolyn Wickware, investigations editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal, has been recognised as ‘Pharmacy Writer of the Year’ at the 2023 Avicenna Media Awards, held at the Ismaili Centre in London on 27 January 2023.
The judges recognised Wickware for her work to “raise the profile of the contractor’s plight regarding stock shortages, which can put patient health at risk” and for highlighting that online pharmacies are eight times more likely to fail General Pharmaceutical Council standards.
In August 2022, Wickware reported that more than half of pharmacists responding to a survey by The Pharmaceutical Journal said that medicines shortages have put patients at risk in the past six months.
The story was subsequently reported in the national media, including the Daily Mail, The Independent, Bloomberg and on the front page of the Daily Express. Wickware was also interviewed by Eddie Mair on LBC regarding the survey results.
Commenting on Wickware’s work, one judge said: “The way she writes is quite succinct and leaves the reader with a clear understanding of what the pertinent issues are.”
Wickware joined The Pharmaceutical Journal in November 2018 as deputy news editor, having previously reported for Pulse, a magazine for GPs.
This is the second award win for The Pharmaceutical Journal team within the past year, after Julia Robinson, senior data journalist, was awarded ‘Best Writer’ for a B2B publication by the British Society of Magazine Editors in June 2022. Robinson was recognised for her “keen eye for detail and unique feature angles”.
In April 2022, The Pharmaceutical Journal was also nominated for ‘Media Brand of the Year’ by the Professional Publishers Association.
