A research article by a team from the Breast Centre North West at Letterkenny University Hospital has won a national award from the HSE.

The team are delighted that their latest research, carried out locally, is being recognised on a National level in the HSE Open Access Research Awards 2017. This is the second year in a row that the Breast Care Unit has been the recipient of this award within the NCCP category.

‘Targeting breast cancer outcomes‐what about the primary relatives?‘ is the 2017 article by the Breast Centre North West in conjunction with Donegal Clinical Research Academy which compiled findings from local cases to discover if primary relatives of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are assessed appropriately.

The study identified an opportunity to improve the delivery of appropriate screening to higher risk primary relatives of patients with breast cancer.

Alison Johnston, Research Nurse at the Breast Centre received the award on behalf of the Team from Ana Terres, Head of Research and Development, Assistant National Director HSE.

The work was recognised by the HSE Open Access Research Awards 2017, which are hosted by Lenus, the Irish Health Repository and the HSE’s Open Access Advisory Group to encourage and reward open access publishing in the health sector in Ireland.

A Saolta spokesperson said: “Open access to health information has been proven to increase citation, impact and can lead to the translation of research into better outcomes for patient care.

“This research is made possible by the on-going generous donations received from local individuals, groups and businesses.”