LONDON — Hanover Health has launched an award to find the next generation of healthcare communications professionals, as part of its efforts to overcome a shortage of talent in the sector.

The Mackay Award – named after Hanover co-founder Gregor Mackay (pictured), who died in 2005 eight weeks after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – offers one winner a six-month development programme, with the expectation of becoming a permanent member of the team.

The programme includes time with Hanover Health’s communications and policy teams in London, Brussels, Dublin and the Middle East, work placements at Health Service Journal and a health charity and attendance at industry conferences.

Hanover Health managing director Andrew Harrison said: “Finding great people is the single biggest growth-limiting factor in our business. It’s a systemic challenge for everyone in the healthcare comms sector, and a very competitive environment to attract people at all levels. Agencies need a more sustainable staffing model.

“The intention of this initiative is to attract a wider pool of applicants to bring some of the brightest and best into the sector, including those who haven’t considered healthcare before. We ran an iteration of the award a few years ago as a one-off for the wider agency and ended up recruiting three of the applicants full time; it would be lovely to be in that position again.”

Harrison said Hanover Health plans to run the award, which is open to anyone with less than one year’s work experience, annually, and it was part of the wider agency’s long-term agenda to recruit more people at entry level and develop them within the company.

The fast-growing practice appointed Sarah Matthew as its global chair in June.