BPS Practice Board award winners announced

The BPS Practice Board 2021 winners are:

PPB Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr Esme D. Moniz-Cook Professor (Psychology, Ageing and Dementia Care), University of Hull

Dr Moniz-Cook has worked with people, families, care staff and communities in all areas of dementia care in Hull. She pioneered the establishment of Memory Clinics that have delivered timely diagnosis and support to people with dementia and their families.

Her research transformed thinking about 'challenging behaviour' in dementia and she has developed many new services to support people with dementia and their carers at home and in care homes. Professor Moniz-Cook also founded INTERDEM, a pan-European network for psychosocial research in dementia care and was the winner of the NHS Innovator of the year 2014 (link is external) (NHS England Leadership Academy) for her work on psychological approaches to dementia care.

Award for Distinguished Contribution to Practice: Professor Jackie Bates-Gaston 

Dr Jackie Bates-Gaston joined the BPS in 1969 en route to becoming Chief Psychologist in the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS). On her journey, she was a Senior Occupational Psychologist in the Department of Manpower, Senior Lecturer in Applied Psychology at the University of Ulster, Honorary Professor of Applied Psychology at Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh and a Parole Board Member in England and Wales. She's also been consulted on forensic and occupational psychology issues by government agencies in Norway, Russia, China and Singapore. 

During her 24 years with NIPS, she set up a unique support system for prison officers and their families and a bespoke suite of rehabilitation programmes and services for prisoners.  Jackie has served on a host of local, national and international BPS committees in forensic and occupational disciplines and has supervised many trainees through to Chartership and HCPC registration.    
 
She has applied, researched and published in a wide range of areas including women's work performance across their life span, repetitive strain injury in female factory workers, prison officer stress and also traumatic brain injury in younger offenders. Her last project in NIPS has led to a Ministerial call for the review of mental health needs and services for prison staff. Her work in prisons has been pivotal in the development and recognition of the importance of forensic psychology within criminal justice.

Innovation in Practice Award: The Psychology Team at The National High Secure Healthcare Service for Women at Rampton Hospital, jointly led by Ms Yasmin Siddall (Consultant Forensic Psychologist) and Dr Jessica Lewis (Consultant Clinical Psychologist). 

During the past two years, the Psychology Team at the National High Secure Healthcare Service for Women (NHSHSW) at Rampton Hospital led on the development and implementation of the Trauma Informed Care Pathway (TICP) within their service. 

The revisions were in line with key recommendations about women's mental health, emphasising key principles such as co-production, engaging in outreach and holistic working. It focuses on the patients' needs first and seeks to embed TICP in everything provided within the service. The new approach provides a much better understanding of the treatment model between the patients and clinical staff, including carers.

Innovation in Practice Award: Giselle Dudley, Experience Psychology Specialist MOD

Ms Dudley has supported the UK Ministry of Defence by designing and implementing anti-poaching operations across Africa. Through rigorous and informed analysis of the evidence, Ms Dudley was able to demonstrate significant gaps in the success of the current anti-poaching activities and identify solutions to bridge these gaps.

This has been so successful it resulted in further funding from DEFRA to continue the British Army's efforts to reduce illegal poaching and has given them scope to move their efforts to other parts of the globe.

Katherine Carpenter, BPS President 2021-22, said:

"Many congratulations to all of the winners of this year's Practice Board awards.

As a former member of Practice Board, I value the vital work that our members are doing to help improve people's lives through high level evidence-based psychological practice, and it's great to see innovation and personal commitment to psychology being both recognised and celebrated."

Every year our PB awards recognise the outstanding personal achievements of those who have made significant contributions to psychological knowledge and practice.

Find out more about the Practice Board awards