NHS Excellence Awards

Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the NHS Excellence Awards 2026.

We had a fantastic response from teams and individuals, demonstrating the truly excellent work taking place across health and care. After the first round of judging, we are delighted to announce the regional champions below. Best of luck to all the teams!

What are the NHS Excellence Awards?

The NHS Excellence Awards 2026 are run by, and for, the NHS – shining a light on local projects and teams who are making a real difference to patients and communities, delivering on the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan and inspiring others to adopt innovative approaches in their local area.

There’s lots of great work happening across the country every day and we want to share the best of the NHS with the rest of the NHS.

The NHS Excellence Awards 2026 are delivered in partnership with Pfizer Limited – thanks to all our awards partners listed below for their support and enabling the awards to happen.

What happens next?

For more information about national judging, our awards partners and the awards ceremony, visit the NHS Excellence Awards pages on the NHS ConfedExpo website, where the awards ceremony will take place.

2026 regional champions

The NHS Excellence Awards recognise outstanding work across 10 categories, celebrating innovation and impact in health and care, with the regional winners for each category shown below:

Delivering value award – sponsored by PwC UK

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Pre-hospital Stroke Video Triage Integrated Stroke Delivery Networks
London Pharmacy Team – Medicines Modernisation Programme London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Midlands The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Chronic Kidney Disease Integrated Care Delivery (LUCID) programme Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB
North East and Yorkshire Transforming Same Day Urgent Care and Winter Services across North Yorkshire Nimbuscare
North West Care Closer, Care Smarter: Transforming Mental Health Flow in Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust, Pennine Care Foundation Trust and Greater Manchester ICB
South East The Medway SMART Acute Virtual Hospital Medway NHS Foundation Trust
South West Drugless CT Coronary Angiography Service At University Hospitals Plymouth University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Digital innovation award – sponsored by Flexzo AI

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Digital Health Team – Digital First Transformation East Coast Community Healthcare
London Real-Time Location System (RTLS) Project Barts Health NHS Trust
Midlands From Paper Registers to Real-Time Safety: A Clinically Led Digital Transformation of Controlled Drug Management University Hospitals Birmingham
North East and Yorkshire Virtual Wards in Secure Environments Spectrum Community Health CIC
North West Digitally Transforming Dialysis: The UK’s First Largest Bidirectional Device‑to‑Main EPR Integration Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
South East Enhancing T2/T3 Prescribing with Digitisation and Decision Support in ePMA Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
South West NHS 111 Online Self-Referral for Breast Cancer Diagnostics NHS 111 Online and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Improving health outcomes award – sponsored by Pfizer Limited

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Youth Workers in Hospital Essex ICB
London Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) Engagement Project NHS North East London Cancer Alliance
Midlands East Midlands CAMHS Collaborative Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
North East and Yorkshire Wakefield Family Nurse Partnership Team Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
North West “Let’s Talk Boobs” Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
South East Isle of Wight Ambulance Service – Out‑of‑Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement Programme Isle of Wight NHS Trust
South West The Market Health Hub Coast and Country Primary Care Network

Leadership award – sponsored by the Chartered Management Institute

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Dr Elizabeth Kendrick Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
London Leeanne McGee West London NHS Trust
Midlands Dr Jess Harvey South-East Shropshire Primary Care Network
North East and Yorkshire Lucy Elkiss Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
North West Duncan Craig We are Survivors
South East Dr. Michelle Gallagher Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
South West Dr. Scott Grier Retrieve Adult Critical Care Transport Service

Neighbourhood health award – sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim*

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Revolutionising Oncology: The “Care Closer to Home” SACT Model Enabling Home Self-Administration East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust
London CHILDS – Child Health Integrated Learning and Delivery System Evelina London
Midlands Team Up NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board
North East and Yorkshire Safety Hub – Bishop Auckland Rethink Mental Illness
North West Liverpool Place Population Management (Proactive Care) Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
South East East Brighton Integrated Community (Neighbourhood) Team NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board on behalf of East Brighton ICT (East and Central PCN and Deans and Central PCN)
South West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Neighbourhood Health Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Patient involvement and choice award

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Carer Experience Service East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust
London South East London ICB Women’s and Girl’s Health NHS South East London Integrated Care Board
Midlands Little Voices Walsall Healthcare
North East and Yorkshire Gleadless and Heeley Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre project Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
North West Neuro Rehabilitation Online Service East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
South East Care Co-ordinators + Family Engagement Leads – The Baby Steps: Our Neonatal Journey Cards South East Neonatal ODN
South West Isaac’s Story – Leading to System Wide Change For Deaf People and National BSL Diabetes Films NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board

Quality improvement award

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Using Ambient Voice Technology to reduce report writing time on an ASD diagnostic pathway Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (Milton Keynes based service)
London Harrow Psychotropic and Physical Health Clinics Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Midlands PCN Equity Review Tool Nottingham West Primary Care Network
North East and Yorkshire Gold Team Approach to Improving Palliative and End of Life Care in General Practice Holderness Health
North West Touch Activated Phlebotomy for Patients with Learning Disabilities University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust
South East Integrated Frailty Crisis Pathway Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
South West Acute Medical Admission Pathways University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Sustainable healthcare award

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England The Green Plan Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
London North West London Sleep Medicine Services and Imperial Health Impact Lab North West London Integrated Care Board
Midlands Bronze to Gold University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
North East and Yorkshire Reusable Surgical Hats, Recycling Frayed Shirts and Second Hand Linen North Cumbria Integrated Care

 
North West ECO4 Flex Health Referral Pathways NHS Greater Manchester ICB
South East Green Nursing Challenge 2025: A Transformative 15-week Journey Centre for Sustainable Healthcare
South West Peeinpot (PiP) Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Valuing our people award – supported by GXO

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England CPFT’s AHP Led, Evidence Based Wellbeing Programme Supporting a Healthier Workforce Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
London Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Fellowship Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Midlands #morethanajob Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
North East and Yorkshire North East and North Cumbria Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub North East and North Cumbria ICB and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
North West Your Future Your Way – Breaking Down Barriers to Career Progression North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust
South East BrigHT futures @BHT Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
South West Reasonable Adjustments Project Devon Partnership Trust

Working in partnership award

Region

Name

Organisation
East of England Supporting a Peaceful Death at Home in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease Hospice of St Francis, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals and Central London Community Healthcare Trust
London Stroke Rehabilitation Programme – NHS and Football Club Foundation Partnership London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Midlands Navigating Our Womanhood Together (NOWT) — Co-Producing Better Access to Women’s Health in the Black Country Black Country ICB
North East and Yorkshire Marie Curie Responsive Emergency Assessment and Community Team (REACT) Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford
North West Greater Manchester Urgent Primary Care Alliance Greater Manchester Urgent Primary Care Alliance
South East Solving Problems, Transforming Lives: Addressing the Underlying Triggers of Mental Health Crisis Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Citizens Advice Winchester District
South West A System‑Wide Partnership for Compassionate End‑of‑Life Care University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Find out more

Read our FAQs or email england.nhsawards@nhs.net if you have any further questions about the awards.

* Boehringer Ingelheim is proud to sponsor the neighbourhood health award category. The Director of Health Systems Partnerships was invited to join the judging panel of the shortlisted group of finalists. No benefit arose to the organisation, and no conflict of interest exists.