Four NHS organisations from the East Midlands have been named as Midlands regional champions in the first NHS Excellence Awards, recognising work that is improving care for patients and communities.  

The NHS Excellence Awards are the only awards run by, and for, the NHS. They recognise, celebrate and share innovative work taking place across health and care. The awards shine a light on local teams, projects and individuals who are driving improvements, with the aim of sharing learning and inspiring others to adopt successful approaches in their own areas. 

In the East Midlands the following were named regional champions:  

Delivering value award 

• Winner: The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Chronic Kidney Disease Integrated Care Delivery (LUCID) programme 

• NHS organisation: Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB  

• More info: Co‑designed with patients, LUCID has redesigned how primary and secondary care work together to support those with chronic kidney disease, by embedding consultant expertise in the community.  

Improving health outcomes award 

• Winner: East Midlands Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Collaborative 

• NHS organisation: Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 

• More info: The collaborative brings together NHS and charity partners to deliver improvements to community-based CAMHS services meaning children and young people benefit from shorter waits, care closer to home, reduced inpatient admissions and shorter lengths of stay.  

Neighbourhood health award 

• Winner: Team Up 

• NHS organisation: NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB  

• More info: Team Up provides neighbourhood care for people unable to leave home, including home visiting, urgent community response, falls recovery and multidisciplinary care planning. It has reduced thousands of emergency department attendances, hospital admissions, ambulance callouts and bed days – helping to save millions for the system each year. 

Quality improvement award 

• Winner: PCN Equity Review tool 

• NHS organisation: Nottingham West Primary Care Network 

• More info: This tool provides GP practices with a way to assess how inclusive their routine processes truly are allowing them to improve how care is delivered within everyday general practice. 

More than 400 entries were received in the Midlands across 10 categories, which were reviewed by a judging panel. 

10 Midlands champions have now been selected, six in the West Midlands and four in the East Midlands. All 10 regional champions from across the Midlands will now form the shortlist from which national winners will be selected. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester in June 2026. 

Dr Jessica Sokolov, Regional Medical Director for NHS England – Midlands, said: “These awards celebrate some of the outstanding work happening across the Midlands by local projects and teams who are making a real difference to patients and communities. The teams and individuals recognised should be very proud – congratulations to all our Midlands champions.” 

Notes to editors 

The NHS Excellence Awards are run by NHS England in partnership with the NHS Alliance (previously NHS Confederation). 

The NHS Excellence Awards feature ten categories recognising individuals, teams and partnerships:  

• Delivering value award 

• Digital innovation award 

• Improving health outcomes award 

• Leadership award 

• Neighbourhood health award 

• Patient involvement and choice award 

• Quality improvement award 

• Sustainable healthcare award 

• Valuing our people award 

• Working in partnership award 

More information can be found at www.england.nhs.uk/nhsawards