C J Littlejohns HealthPrize
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The 2025 CJ Littlejohns Health Prize and the Peter Littlejohns Society Prize are now open for applications.
See the 2024 Prize winners review of the book NICE at 25: a quarter century of evidence values and innovation
The CJ Littlejohns Medical Prize was established in 2013 to support students applying for medical school. In 2024 the prize was expanded to all pupils in years 12 and 13 who are considering a health related university course . This is interpreted as any scientific or vocational course linked to health care. The annual prize will now be called the CJ Littlejohns Health Prize. The annual prize will be awarded on the basis of an essay on a health related issue .
Each year a subject will be chosen that is attracting a lot of attention in the news. For 2025 the essay is on the subject of the right of patients with terminal illnesses and in great distress to end their lives with dignity. This is a highly controversial issue and there are strong moral and legal arguments for and against. In November MPs in Parliament voted in favour of a bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. You can find more information here https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47158287.
The essay should address the question - what do you think should be in the new law to create safeguards to protect vulnerable people ? The word limit is 2500 words. The prize attracts a financial component of £250. Please submit your essay before 18th April 2025 . Normally essays should be written by individual pupils but if you would like to submit as a group that is acceptable. No more than 6 pupils should be in a group and you will need to explain the contribution of each student. A group submission will share the prize money, All essays will be posted on the prize website.
On behalf of the family his son Professor Peter Littlejohns said
“Throughout his life Cecil John was committed to helping others in the community. This prize means that his legacy of generosity will continue in the future as an encouragement to young people applying to University in order to embark on a health related career "
The Latest Winner - 2024
This year was the first time the new Health Prize was awarded. It was shared between Nia Owen and Eve Bessent. In June Professor Peter Littlejohns visited the school and met the prize winners. He also met the Head Kathleen Lawlor and discussed future arrangements for the prizes.
Post Cards from Previous Winners
In this section you will hear from previous winners with a short update of their activities. The latest one is from Jack Hayman who won the Design Prize for the CJ Littlejohns website in 2013
To year 12 and 13 pupils
I thought I would share some of my experiences with you .
I made the first website for the CJ Littlejohns Prize over a decade ago now, at a time when I was studying design at Gowerton School ahead of starting at university.
While I was studying I took the opportunity to spend some time abroad, ending up in Gothenburg, Sweden. After graduation I moved back there and found a job as a design engineer. My first project was designing a medical device for paediatric medicine.
Gothenburg is a European hub for medical technology, with AstraZeneca as one of the major employers. In the past 10 years I have contributed to the design of several products, often with a MedTech dimension, from concept phase through to pre-production. The main lesson that I’ve learned is to push yourself and a project hard. Any design ideas that you have should be added to the concept as soon as possible, since the stringent medical design process will wring out later “not so good ideas” through risk analysis and cost. You could say that maybe it is a bit like life - act now, strike while the irons hot, take a chance! Because it’s later than you think!
Jack Hayman
Gothenburg
26th November 2024
2020 will be considered the year of Covid-19
The 2015 CJL prize winner Cara Macey tells what it is like to volunteer on the wards as a medical student
During the uncertain period we experiences during Spring 2020, several medical students, including myself volunteered to help support the staff and Departments in our local hospitals.
Over a 6-month period, I was welcomed and supported by a fantastic team and getting involved in the day to day care of looking after patients as a health care support worker.
In this role, I was responsible for providing a more caring aspect to patient needs such as helping them with their activities of daily living. This was starkly different to my role as a medical student where the focus is more on their medical concerns. I feel that by being able to experience both sides of patient requirements I am much more aware and understanding of the various roles and their demands in the day to day running of the ward. On reflection, this has allowed me to provide better care as a future doctor as I am able to assess these aspects moving forward.
Furthermore, using the skills I had acquired as a medical student e.g. taking bloods, inserting canular and preforming ECGs, I was able to perform these tasks on behalf of medical staff, allowing them to attend more serious and pressing matters. I found it very rewarding being able to contribute my skills to support a fantastic team who especially in the challenging circumstances.
Whilst life for me has returned to a ‘new normal’ and my studies and placements have now commenced again, I will always be grateful and thankful for this experience. Whilst at time I found the situation challenging, by being able to participate in a more caring setting I have developed skills and a personal understanding of what is expected of the various staff involved in the day to day running of the ward. I will always be extremely thankful to the team for being so supportive and taking the time to allowing me to get involved as much as possible. The skills I have develop will enable me to be a better care provider and a future doctor.
2023 CJL Global Health Prize
In 2017 a new prize was added to the CJ Littlejohns prize portfolio - the CJ Littlejohns Global Health Prize. This is awarded for the best poster presentation in the Global Health Module of the Masters in Public Health at King's College London. The 2023 winners were Deborah Longe ; Chichi Ukoha; Sana Zain; Reshma Ramesh; Bipasha Deuri (see photos below) . Read the winners' bios and appreciate the range of backgrounds that can lead to an interest in Public Health.
The Peter Littlejohns Society Prize
2024 was the 25 year anniversary of the establishment of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) https://www.nice.org.uk/ . The Institute seeks to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and fairness of health care through the application of evidence in an ethical manner. It’s Founding Clinical and Public Health Director was Professor Peter Littlejohns who was a pupil at Gowerton Boys School from 1966 to 1973. In recognition of the role that the Institute has had in supporting fairness in health care a new annual prize - the Peter Littlejohns Society Prize has been established. This will be awarded on the basis of an essay on the subject of “Science, Art and Society”.
Each year a subject will be chosen on the basis of an issue that is dominating the news relating to science, technology and society. For 2025 the issue is on safeguarding vulnerable people on the internet. More than any scientific innovation the internet and access to it via mobile phones has revolutionised how virtually everybody on the planet can communicate with everyone else. The potential for good is enormous but also there is the potential for unscrupulous people to manipulate the system and to spread false information . Some people feel that it is now too late to put in safeguards and they would not work anyway. The essay should be responding to the question – Given that government has responsibility to protect and safeguard vulnerable children/people, how do you think that governments and people should act to ensure that the internet is safe for everyone to use ? The word limit is 2500 words. The prize attracts a financial component of £250. Please submit before 18th April 2025
Normally essays should be written by individual pupils but if you would like to submit as a group that is acceptable. No more than 6 pupils should be in a group and you will need to explain the contribution of each student. A group submission
Deborah Longe
Chichi Ukoha
Sana Zain
Reshma Ramesh
Bipasha Deuri
Prestigious awards received
by 2014 CJL Prize Winner
Katy, the 2014 CJL Prize winner has received a national award at the Palace of Westminster. Her work on widening access to medical school at Southampton Medical School was recognised by being runner up in the national "widening participation" competition organised by Health Education England. Katy is now President of the Southampton Widening Access to Medicine Society (WAMSOC). She was also runner up at the Southampton Medical School Spring Ball Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Medicine. This was out of all of the students at Southampton Medical School.
Further reading for pupils and students interested in applying for the prizes
Making Health Public: a manifesto for a new social contract
In 2023 Professor Peter Littlejohns and colleagues published a book exploring what needs to change to ensure that the health of the public improves
The Lottery of Devolved Cancer Care
To explore the dilemmas of prioritising health care Professor Peter Littlejohns has produced a film called “The lottery of Devolved Cancer Care”. It examines variation in access to expensive cancer drugs in the home countries. It is based on the circumstances that led Ifron Williams moving from Wales to England to get his treatment and then how he established his campaign “Hawl i Fyw” to get fair access to health services.
"I think it is beautifully filmed and thought provoking to those who are outside this bubble of cancer treatment " Rebecca Willams Ifron's widow July 2017
To commemorate the 100 yr anniversary of the birth of CJ Littlejohns a special one off CJ Littlejohns Society Prize was awarded 2016. All students in the school were invited to submit a work of art depicting 100 yrs of Welsh Society. The winner was Jacob Arnold with a picture of Pennard Castle, second was Ross Williams with a print of dragons and Carys Buckley, Ilia James and Anastasia Edwards came third with a collage depicting memories of Gowerton School.
As part of the prize all pupils who entered were eligible for a draw to receive tickets for a Wales rugby world cup match together with the Littlejohns family
Useful information for prospective medical students
Covid-19 blogs
Experiences of a doctor as a patient