Dr Thompson won the award for an essay entitled ‘Nature works – why don’t we?’ on how living systems can inform the design of effective primary care.

The essay is published in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) today.

Commenting on the award, Professor Roger Jones, Editor of the BJGP, said: "In his essay, Trevor looks to the design and function of living things, including their capacities for cooperation and self-renewal, for inspiration to redesign the delivery of primary care and to solve some of the problems of the NHS. He emphasises the inner resources possessed by patients, doctors and health systems to heal themselves and to regenerate, and sounds an optimistic note about the profession's ability to move on from its present troubles."

Dr Thompson said: "I never met Kieran but greatly enjoyed his writing, sensing a kindred spirit. And what a brilliant excuse this competition was to give time to a fascinating topic on the edge of medical academia. In this essay, I explore how health systems can exploit the design features, honed over billions of years, which render Nature efficient, beautiful and bountiful. It's biomimicry for beginners!"

About the Kieran Sweeney Prize

Professor Kieran Sweeney was a GP in Exeter who died in 2009 of mesothelioma. He applied ideas from philosophy, the arts, mathematics, business and social sciences to the care of his patients and the process of healthcare. He was also an accomplished medical writer. The Tamar Faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners decided to honour his memory with a biennial prize, to be awarded in even years, for the best original article submitted by a practising GP.