An individual who has helped to improve NHS care delivery beyond the remit of their individual trust, service or specialism, contributing to widespread change
This could include activities such as (but not limited to):
Leading or co-leading large-scale improvement projects or collaboratives
Co-developing key policy or service delivery documents or reports
Contributing to task forces or focus groups to tackle specific issues that impact the NHS or population health on a wider scale (eg health inequalities)
Developing or contributing to care or service networks to help join up care and staff expertise across the UK (such as primary care networks)
Making important contributions to the academic literature on key issues in NHS management, service delivery, improvement and leadership, with direct practical implications and impact
Staff Champion
An individual manager (at any level) who has gone beyond the expectations of their role, for example, to improve staff wellbeing, create a positive working environment and promote staff progression
This could involve activities including (but not limited to):
Proactively implementing measures to improve staff wellbeing – these could be large-scale changes/interventions or smaller strategies that make a difference to the everyday working environment
Advocating for a learning environment and actively working to address cultures of blame to improve staff and patient safety
Actively working to increase opportunities for staff career progression and/or training and development
Implementing measures to address inequalities and discrimination against staff with protected characteristics (eg to improve representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic healthcare professionals at higher levels of clinical seniority and management)
Designing initiatives to tackle harassment and bullying in the workplace
Improving HR processes to ensure that staff are treated respectfully and reasonably by their organisation
Outstanding innovation
An individual, team or project group that have designed/developed and implemented an innovation that has had a demonstrable positive impact on care delivery and/or service efficiency
This could be in any specialty or type of healthcare service, including non-clinical innovations. Examples could include:
A digital system that reduces the administrative burden on clinicians, freeing up time and resources for patient care
Introducing a clinical pathway to streamline referral and/or care processes to facilitate person-centred, joined-up care
Projects to tackle waiting lists – this could be on a large scale (eg developing surgical hubs or community diagnostic centres for the trust or ICS) or a smaller scale (eg implementing an innovative triage system to ensure safe and appropriate patient management)
Good practice in training
An NHS department, organisation or linked academic institution that has developed and delivered a healthcare leadership training course with fantastic feedback from alumni, along with other demonstrable benefits to services and staff
Examples could include:
Leadership training programmes delivered by NHS trusts for internal staff to improve leadership skills and/or help to transfer skills learnt at academic institutions to clinical practice
Smaller-scale leadership training courses aiming to build on specific skills eg conflict management, use of telemedicine, quality improvement etc
Larger-scale leadership courses to help healthcare professionals progress to managerial positions and take on new leadership responsibilities
Improving outcomes: management team award
An NHS management team, from any specialism or area, that has made active improvements with a demonstrable impact on outcomes within (or even beyond) their area of responsibility
Examples of areas where positive outcomes were achieved could include (but are not limited to):
Patient experience and/or clinical outcomes
Staff experience and retention, including staff engagement and wellbeing, satisfaction
Wider organisational issues, such as improving environmental sustainability, reducing waste, or digital initiatives
Wider population health issues, such as tackling health inequalities or improving access to care
Administrative and HR areas, such as recruitment processes, complaints and management of disciplinary procedures
Improving outcomes: NHS organisation award
An NHS organisation that has achieved organisation-level goals, with a demonstrable impact on patients, staff and the overall quality of services
Eligible organisations include, but are not limited to, NHS trusts and health boards, primary care providers (including primary care networks), provider collaboratives, arm’s length bodies and national organisations, regional organisations (such as academic health science networks) and clinical senates
Achievements could include successful delivery on any organisation-wide aim. Examples could include:
A large-scale quality improvement project across teams and/or services
An initiative to improve the physical environment of the organisation for staff and patient wellbeing, and environmental sustainability
A smooth and collaborative management of an organisational merger or rearrangement
New Talent
An individual with up to 5 years of experience in a leadership or managerial position who has shown remarkable potential as a leader and made outstanding contributions to their organisation, either on their own projects or in support of colleagues and/or more senior leaders
This person could be in a clinical or non-clinical leadership role. Examples of activities from last year’s candidates include:
Helping to develop a rapid access infectious diseases clinic, including creating clinic lists and coordinating with medical, nursing and administrative staff to manage the logistics
Driving improvements to trust induction programmes, including the creation of video resources
Leading on a quality improvement project with service-wide engagement to develop a bespoke screening, clinical assessment and treatment planning patient pathway
Transforming accounting and administrative functions to modern, real-time systems, leading to cost savings on IT systems, travel and accommodation
Initiating and leading on a large-scale Royal College of General Practitioners project
