The NHS in the Midlands has today revealed the ten individuals and teams it has chosen as regional champions for the prestigious NHS Parliamentary Awards to mark the NHS’s 75th birthday.

MPs and NHS leaders in the Midlands joined forces to honour health and care staff who have helped to improve treatment for patients.

Those recognised in the 10 categories, which range from Excellence in Primary Care to the Lifetime Achievement Award, include nurses, mental health teams, NHS volunteers and midwives.

The judges, drawn from across the NHS, have today selected the 10 regional winners. There were a record number of 750 nominations made across the country.

Dr Mohammed Saqib Anwar, Deputy Medical Director at NHS England in the Midlands, said: “It was so heart-warming to read about all the fantastic work that is being done by some amazing individuals and teams across the region.

“Heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and the nominees – it is people and teams like these that are the heartbeat of the NHS.”

The ten regional champions selected by an expert NHS panel are:

• The Excellence in Healthcare Award: Rushcliffe Dementia Communication and Support Project, Rushcliffe Primary Care Network, nominated by Ruth Edwards MP.
• The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award: Crisis Care Centre Team, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, nominated by Jo Gideon MP, Jack Brereton MP and Jonathan Gullis MP.
• The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award: Integrated frailty service (including acute and Community Services), South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, nominated by Matt Western MP.
• The Excellence in Primary Care and Community Care Award: Choices Care Ltd, Leicester, nominated by Claudia Webbe MP.
• The Future NHS Award: Martyn Staddon, SUPERB dashboard – Patient and Staff Experience Data Insight Manager, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, nominated by Victoria Atkins MP.
• The Health Equalities Award: Specialist Community Public Health Nursing for Asylum Seeking Families, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, nominated by Margaret Beckett MP and Amanda Solloway MP.
• The Nursing and Midwifery Award: Dawn Forbes, Children and Young People Oncology Nurse Specialist, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, nominated by Mark Garnier MP.
• The Volunteer Award: Julie Hammond, Volunteer for Burton Hospital League of Friends and Shop Manager, League of Friends, nominated by Kate Kniveton MP.
• The NHS Rising Star Award: Sophie Garcia, Specialist Midwife, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, nominated by Steve McCabe MP.
• The Lifetime Achievement Award: Howard Straughen-Simpson, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, nominated by Caroline Johnson MP.

Judging panel member and NHS England Chief Nursing Office, Ruth May, said: “These awards pay tribute to the enormous talent, hard work and commitment of the incredible people who make up the NHS. I’m very proud to be a part of them.

“This year we’ve seen an incredible amount of work going into tackling the NHS backlog and recovering from the impact of covid. NHS staff have continued to rollout of the biggest and fastest vaccination programme in NHS history, while virtually eliminating two year waits and diagnosing record amounts of cancer patients.

“As we celebrate 75 years of our NHS, it is a perfect time to recognise our staff.”

The NHS Parliamentary Awards were established to engage MPs in identifying and highlighting innovative and high-quality care across every constituency in England, and thanking staff for their dedication, hard work and commitment by recognising and honouring their achievements. Now, the Awards have seen over half of English Members of Parliament nominating an individual or organisation for an award this year.

Our regional champions will now go head-to-head with other winners from across the country to be judged by a national panel made up of senior leaders representing staff and patients, for the chance to win the prestigious national award.

The awards will be presented at a special ceremony in the House of Commons on 5 July 2023, the day of the NHS’s 75^th birthday.