The ENO Breathe programme, developed in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, has won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s (RPS) 2021 Impact Award.

Royal Philharmonic Society Awards salute musical heroes – both amateur and professional – who have inspired the nation through the pandemic.

The Impact Award – for initiatives that prove music’s vital, empowering role in society – went to the ENO Breathe programme, for drawing on the expertise of opera singers and colleagues at Imperial College Healthcare to help hundreds of long-Covid sufferers across the UK positively address their breathing and anxiety

The honour was accepted by the Director of ENO’s learning and participation programme, Jenny Mollica, at a ceremony on Monday 1 November.

Commenting on the award win, Dr Sarah Elkin, lead respiratory consultant for the programme and clinical director for integrated care at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust said:

“I am delighted that the hard work of the whole ENO Breathe team has been recognised. We continue to be very grateful for the ENO’s dedication to supporting patients across the country who are suffering with Covid-19 symptoms long after their initial disease. As the country continues to recover from the pandemic we must remember that, for these patients, ongoing breathlessness and anxiety is debilitating and can be frightening.

We have seen first-hand the impact that ENO Breathe has had for our patients but we are now also working with the ENO on a research study that will properly evaluate the programme. We hope the findings, which will be available soon, will provide vital information about the improvements in symptoms and help us to continue developing the programme so that we can best support people to improve wellbeing.”

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