The Independent’s NHS mental health abuse scandal story shortlisted for award

The Independent has been shortlisted for an award for powerful investigations and campaigns following its work exposing a huge scale of abuse in NHS mental health hospitals .

Health correspondent Rebecca Thomas revealed how tens of thousands of sexual assaults and other incidents had been reported , yet the figures suggested fewer than 5 per cent of reports to hospitals were referred to the police.

Almost 20,000 reports in the past five years were made in more than half of mental health trusts, a joint investigation and podcast by The Independent and Sky News found.

The 2024 Making a Difference Award shortlist is now featured in a showcase of national and local newspaper investigations and campaigns organised by the News Media Association.

Readers will have the chance to vote for which they judge to be the best, during the industry's Journalism Matters campaign running from 28 October to 3 November.

The public vote for the best local and national campaigns will go live at 9.30am on 28 October and close at 5pm on Wednesday 30 October. The local and national winners will be announced later in the week.

Dame Vera Baird, the former victims' commissioner, called the results of the NHS abuse investigation "a national scandal" and Wes Streeting, then shadow health secretary, said it was a "wake-up call" for the government.

Rape Crisis England and Wales called for a public inquiry .

Readers are encouraged to vote for our NHS abuse scandal coverage after dozens of families launched legal cases against a group of children's mental health hospitals following our report.

Journalism Matters Week is the news media industry's annual campaign highlighting the benefits that journalism creates for our society, and supporters use the social-media hashtags #JournalismMatters and #MakingADifference.