The Independent’s Rebecca Thomas wins health journalist of the year at British Journalism Awards

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Independent’s health correspondent Rebecca Thomas has been named the best health journalist in the British Journalism Awards, and commended for the “huge impact” of her work. Ms Thomas’s work revealed the scandal of rape and sexual assault of patients within NHS mental health trusts, a “culture of fear” allowing nurses to abuse their patients, and the case of an autistic man who was repeatedly locked up in dementia care units and abused by nurses. Judges at the prestigious awards named Ms Thomas the winner of the Health and Life Sciences category, describing her work as “three significant examples of dogged journalism which had a huge impact”. Ms Thomas previously won the Health and Life Sciences category in the British Journalism Awards in 2022, when she was recognised for her “revelatory” coverage of a crisis in A&E units.