Published on 23 September 2025
A successful project to encourage pregnant women to give up smoking has been named runner-up in a national healthcare award.
Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance (CMCA), alongside NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB and Cheshire & Merseyside Women's Health & Maternity Partnership, was Highly Commended for its Smoking in Pregnancy (SiP) campaign in the Maternity and Midwifery Services Initiative of the Year category.
The HSJ Patient Safety Awards are among the most respected accolades in the healthcare community, celebrating teams and organisations that go above and beyond to protect patients and improve safety standards. This year, the Awards received 456 entries, with 216 projects shortlisted.
The SiP campaign evaluated the problem of smoking in pregnancy across Cheshire and Merseyside, trained and supported healthcare professionals to refer mothers-to-be to groups which could help them quit smoking and created targeted awareness campaigns to support women to give up tobacco use.
Jon Hayes, Managing Director of Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, said: “It is fantastic for this project to be recognised nationally. It was a well thought out and executed campaign which has had success in increasing the number of women who give up smoking once they become pregnant. This is obviously good for the long-term health of both the mother and baby.”
Now in its 15th year, the HSJ Patient Safety Awards shine a spotlight on organisations driving forward patient safety and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the NHS and independent healthcare providers.
HSJ Editor Alastair McLellan said: “The HSJ Patient Safety Awards are a vital platform for celebrating the efforts of healthcare staff who continually strive to reduce risk and protect patients. This year’s winners have shown remarkable innovation, resilience, and commitment to improving outcomes for patients, and they should be incredibly proud of their achievements.”