Law pioneer Lady Hale honoured at Women Of The Year Awards

Baroness Hale of Richmond, the UK’s first female Justice of the Supreme Court, has been honoured with the Women Of The Year lifetime achievement award 2023.

Comedian Mel Giedroyc hosted the event championing women, alongside celebrity presenters including Spice Girls star Emma Bunton, radio presenter Clara Amfo, Countdown host Rachel Riley and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly.

Former president of the Supreme Court Lady Hale was one of several women to have won Women Of The Year gongs this year.

She said of the award: “What a delight to be among so many wonderful women to celebrate their achievements. It’s an honour to be among them.”

Elsewhere, Merope Mills, a patient safety campaigner who helped the government to commit to implement Martha’s Rule across the NHS to reduce preventable deaths, won the campaign of the year award.

Mills, an editor at the Guardian, campaigned for change after her daughter died from developing sepsis while under the care of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in south London.

She said: “I feel honoured to receive the award for campaign of the year. In telling Martha’s story, I wanted to highlight preventable deaths in our healthcare system and am pleased to have won government and NHS support for Martha’s Rule.

“Martha’s Rule is essential in empowering patients to speak up on hospital wards. Ultimately, it will enable patients themselves to trigger a critical care review – effectively a second opinion – if they feel their care is going wrong, their concerns are being ignored or their voice isn’t being heard.

“I’d like to dedicate this award to my wonderful daughter. Martha was bright, brave and brilliant in every way. She is deeply loved and deeply missed.”

The community champion award went to Raksha Pattni, chair of educational charity SHINE which is committed to improving social mobility for disadvantaged children in the north of England.

She said: “I feel incredibly honoured to receive the BP community champion award.

“Through my work with SHINE and the Ambition Institute I work with teachers every day – they are at the heart of the communities they serve …

“I passionately believe that everyone should get a fair chance of success in life, regardless of where you live and whether your parents are rich or poor.”

Meanwhile, Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics, which creates revolutionary low-cost bionic hands, won in the founder of the year category.

She said that she was “grateful” for the company’s “community, engineering, clinical, production and support teams, who make this magic happen”.

The Woman Of The Year game changer award was given to Lisa Woodcock, who has campaigned to raise awareness about organ donation after having a life-saving liver transplant.

In the innovation award category, Dr Alicja Dzieciol won for her vision to create a more sustainable world, having co-founded SilviBio, a company which creates products to increase tree seed germination and seedling survival.

Speaking about her win, she said: “I’m surrounded by my wonderful team who share our company’s vision and lend their talents and skills towards making that vision a reality.

“What we’ve achieved so far is only the beginning. I won’t rest easy until we’ve made a real, lasting impact.

“The faith put into me today by the inspiring women here only invigorates my resolve to do my part to usher in a truly sustainable future for us all.”

The award for campaigner for health equity was won by GP Bola Owolabi who is working to reduce disparities in access and outcome for NHS treatment.

Speaking about her campaigning, she said that tackling health inequalities can be “complex work” which involves “action across multiple organisations and sectors.”

She added: “The NHS England National Healthcare Inequalities team which I have the privilege of leading have provided clarity of vision, ambition and direction in this space, which has in turn galvanised whole system energy and momentum to drive change.

“I dedicate this award wholeheartedly to my team.”

The Women Of The Year Lunch and Awards hosted its 69th annual event at the Royal Lancaster London to celebrate more than 400 women from across the UK who have achieved extraordinary feats.

The event champions women from all walks of life with each guest nominated by a member of the Women Of The Year nominating council in recognition of their personal achievement.