Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum came together yesterday to celebrate the work of NHS staff who have gone above and beyond in their field, for the NHS Parliamentary Awards held on the health services 75^th birthday.

This year’s winners include Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the North East and Yorkshire region, who won The Future NHS Award for their work on developing an artificial intelligence cardiac diagnostic tool.

The new artificial intelligence tool has been developed to speed up the diagnosis of thousands of NHS heart patients by spotting damage seen on MRI heart scans in seconds, speeding up diagnosis and reducing delays in starting treatment.

The technology has been developed by Dr Andrew Swift, Dr Samer Alabed, Dr Kavita Karunasagaraar and Dr Pete Metherall from the Trust with support from MRI radiographers and clinical scientists at the Sheffield 3D-lab and in collaboration with Dr Rob van der Geest at Leiden University.

The ceremony was held in the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in Westminster and was attended by NHS staff from across the country as well as Members of Parliament including the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper.

A special video message from the Prime Minister was also played at this year’s awards which have helped highlight the innovation of NHS staff across the country.

Richard Barker, Regional Director, North East and Yorkshire, NHS England, said:

“I am delighted to see Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recognised as worthy winners within the Future NHS Award category. The work they have undertaken is outstanding and is already making such a difference to patients.

“I would like to offer my huge congratulations to the Trust and team behind this fantastic work.”

Kirsten Major, Chief Executive at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We are honoured and hugely proud to have received this award on the NHS’ 75^th birthday. Here in Sheffield we have a long history of embracing innovation to improve patients’ lives, and the dedication and compassion of our staff has been a constant theme. The innovative use of AI to help diagnose heart problems is a fantastic example of the transformative skill of the team who developed it and is already enabling clinicians to speed up heart disease diagnosis. We are exceptionally proud of the teams both within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield who have worked so hard to bring this technology to the NHS. This is extremely deserving recognition and I would like to thank all the teams involved.”

Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said:

“We are proud of our long-established and successful relationship with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which is at the heart of bringing our innovative translational research to patients. This project is already making a difference to patients’ lives across South Yorkshire and beyond. Congratulations to the collaborative team who have pioneered this cutting-edge AI technology.”

NHS Awards 2023