A FORMER Royal Navy medic has won an award set up to honour a professor who worked at the West Cumberland Hospital.

James Moffatt has been give the Olu Orugun prize, in memory of the popular doctor who died in 2017.

Mr Moffatt, originally from Manchester, is a physician graduate at the University of Central Lancashire. As well as scooping the award for his commitment to his studies, he has also been praised for his approach to patients in his care and his dedication – keeping in with the characteristics Dr Orugun displayed throughout his career.

Prior to studying at UCLan, James worked as a medic in the Royal Navy for nine years with deployments overseas in South America and the Falkland Islands, as well as working on disaster relief and humanitarian missions

James is a great example of Professor Orugun’s philosophy which was to encourage the development of a workforce made up of professionals from a variety of clinical backgrounds, helping to address the issues of recruitment and retention of medical staff in Cumbria.

He said: “Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to meet Dr Orugun. Before receiving the award, I had read about his achievements and how he was a firm supporter of the physician associate role, so it means more to me that the award is named after him, such a caring and compassionate doctor/professor helping the physician associate role grow and develop.”

“The area in medicine I enjoyed the most during my placements with UCLan was primary care. I loved the one on one interaction and the relationships I developed with the patients.”