'24 Hours in A&E: Heart Special’ won the Best Brand-Driven Format Award at the annual International Format Awards for their special collaboration.
The Heart Special, funded by the British Heart Foundation, provided an opportunity to raise awareness and increase support to their research to save and improve lives.
The programme aired in the first week of the UK’s first lockdown in March 2020 with two million people tuning in live - it led to 62% more text donations in one night than the British Heart Foundation typically receives in one month of TV fundraising activity.
St George's - British Heart Foundation collaboration wins award
The episode revisited three patient stories who previously appeared in the series when admitted to their emergency department with serious heart conditions.
Spencer Kelly, Executive Producer at the Garden Productions said: “As Covid continues to dominate our lives, this film focused on another public health concern – heart disease and the work of St George’s hospital and the British Heart Foundation charity in trying to combat a disease that still accounts for 1 in 4 deaths in the UK.
“We are continually grateful to the staff at St George’s and the NHS as a whole for their tireless and selfless dedication. Even more so during the last year.
"And also the patients who let us into the most devastating and sensitive moments of their lives – reminding us all that the best medicine is often compassion, understanding and love.”
Channel 4 Documentaries commissioning editor Rita Daniels said: “In this poignant episode of 24 hours in A&E we revisit stories of those who have been treated at St George’s and see where they are now, which demonstrates the incredible work the staff do there every day.
"It’s a stark reminder that heart conditions don’t discriminate, and we hope this episode raises awareness.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “As 24 hours in A&E shows, people are still attending hospital with heart and circulatory conditions every day, and there are more life changing, lifesaving advances to make."
