Despite high demand for the region’s NHS services this year, staff continue to provide high quality care to patients, often using innovative ways to improve their healthcare experiences.

To recognise those working in the NHS, from today, Members of Parliament (MPs) from across the East of England will start nominating individuals and teams who really stand out in their various professions through the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

Patients who have received outstanding or innovative healthcare in our region are encouraged to write to their MP to nominate those staff involved.

The awards have grown every year since they were established in 2018, with over 750 individuals or teams nominated by MPs last year alone.

Adam Cayley, regional chief operating officer for the NHS in the East of England, said: “These important awards recognise the amazing work that NHS staff and volunteers carry out day in day out across the East of England.

“It’s been another tough year for the NHS as we continue to recover from the pandemic, manage through a challenging winter, and provide safe and urgent healthcare through a series of Industrial Action. Throughout it all, NHS staff have gone above and beyond to provide great healthcare and it’s those people that should be recognised in these awards.”

This year there are 10 award categories, including the new Excellence in Education and Training Award. This recognises a team or individual who is leading the way to help support the delivery of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. This could be through innovative approaches to education, such as apprenticeships or championing new approaches to attract new staff from diverse backgrounds.

Nominations will close on Friday 19 April and all of those shortlisted by the national judging panel will be invited to the awards ceremony in Westminster on Monday 1 July, to celebrate their fantastic achievements alongside the MPs who nominated them.

NHS staff can be nominated by the local MPs in the following categories:

• The Excellence in Education and Training Award: To recognise teams and individuals which excel at innovative approaches to education and training,

• The Excellence in Healthcare Award: This award recognises individuals or teams who go above and beyond to either prevent major health conditions or improve outcomes and experiences for patients living with and beyond them.

• The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award: To the individual or team that has worked across organisational boundaries to develop new and effective services to help people living with mental health problems in their community.

• The Volunteer Award: The Volunteer Award is for volunteers working to support the NHS to provide excellent care for patients, helping them to keep healthy and well.

• The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award: To the individual or team that has made improvements in how the NHS treats people in life or death situations.

• The Excellence in Primary Care and Community Care Award: As the needs of patients and the wider NHS evolves, so does the role of these professionals, and this award seeks to recognise practitioners and teams in primary or community care that are working with patients to help them stay healthy and avoid long stays in hospital or being admitted in the first place.

• The Future NHS Award: This award seeks to highlight individuals, teams and organisations that are successfully embracing the opportunities that come from innovation and advances in medical technology, data, and connectivity.

• The Health Equalities Award: This award is for an individual or organisation that has helped the NHS to do its bit by bringing together different groups and organisations to reduce health inequalities and prevent ill health in different communities.

• The Nursing and Midwifery Award: This award is for any nurse or midwife that has used their skills to ensure that patients experience care and compassion, and have driven improvements in their service.

• The Lifetime Achievement Award: This award is for an individual who has worked within a health or care setting for 40 years or more who has left a positive legacy.

Notes to editors;

• The nomination process is open from Thursday 29 February 2024 until the end of Friday 19 April 2024. Patients, the public and local health and care organisations are encouraged to submit their nomination suggestions to their local MPs at least two weeks before the nomination window closes to give MPs time to review and choose which applications to submit.
• After the nomination window closes on Friday 19 April 2024, nominations will be sent to the NHS in the east of England team for initial sifting. Successful nominations at this stage will then go forward to a regional panel comprised of senior regional NHS England representatives. The regional panels will each choose one nomination in each category to go forward to the national judging panel. A national judging panel will then score each of the shortlisted nominations and select an overall winner for each category.
• To find out which regional Trusts won in the regional categories in last year’s 2023 Parliamentary Awards click here. These winners went forward to the national awards in London on 5 July – the NHS’s 75th birthday, held at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Westminster.
• The Virtual Hospital Programme at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust was highly commended in the category “Excellence in Healthcare”. The region was also honoured with a joint winner, in the category “Health Inequalities”. This was for the Southend Ambition project which enables people who are unemployed or economically inactive to work in Southend Hospital or the local healthcare sector.
• For more information on how to nominate and the criteria for each category, visit www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk
• For more details please contact england.eastcommunications@nhs.net