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The Independent’s health correspondent has won a prestigious award for uncovering a major sexual abuse scandal within the NHS.
Rebecca Thomas was given the Medical Journalist’s Association (MJA) mental health story of the year for her 18-month long investigation into sexual abuse within NHS-run mental health hospitals.
Ms Thomas’s work revealed shocking reports of rape and sexual assault of patients within NHS mental health trusts as multiple victims spoke to her about their stories.
The MJA described her reporting as “investigative journalism at its best” and the scale, depth and importance of the story, reported with Sky News, deserved to be recognised.
“This work shone a much-needed light on the treatment of vulnerable women and systemic failures across the mental health system,” it said.
Ms Thomas told The Independent: “I am honoured to have received this award and wish to thank the brave people who shared their stories.”
The MJA also highly commended Ms Thomas’s reporting around the NHS watchdog’s “culture of fear” for news story of the year.
Over the past year, Ms Thomas’s has exhaustively reported on the crisis within mental health care - both within the NHS and private hospitals.
Her work has led to the closure of scandal-hit private hospitals and prompted a national inquiry into NHS mental health services.
In one case, Ms Thomas’s reporting even helped free an autistic patient who had been trapped in mental health institutions for more than a decade because of failings at every level of the system.
In 2022, Ms Thomas was named Health and Science Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards for her “revelatory” coverage of the worsening crisis in A&E departments.
The award ceremony hailed her “proper revelatory journalism, praised by health professionals and benefiting the public” at the time.
