NHS staff and volunteers working across the NHS in the North West have been recognised in the shortlist for this year’s prestigious NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The annual awards, now in their fifth year, recognise the hard work and commitment of individuals and teams working across the health and care sector, in local communities.

In the North West, more than 150 individuals and teams working across the region were nominated in ten categories by more than 50 MPs, for going above and beyond to provide innovative and compassionate care to patients.

A panel of senior executives selected regional champions for their dedication to the health service and to the people they care for in their communities.

The following ten regional champions have been shortlisted for the national awards and will go head-to-head with others from across the country, at an awards ceremony in London on Wednesday 5 July – the NHS 75^th birthday.

• The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care award: Emergency Department, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
• The Excellence in Health Care award: Cytosponge – improving the care and detection of oesophageal cancer in patients with Barrett’s oesophagus, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
• The Excellence in Mental Health award: Lancashire and South Cumbria Reproductive Trauma Service (Perinatal Mental Health), Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
• The Volunteer Award: Salford Royal Volunteer Dining Companions, Northern Care Alliance NHS FT
• The Excellence in Primary and Community Care award: First Contact Practitioner (Physiotherapy) Team (FCPs), Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS FT
• The Future NHS award: The Dynamic Support Database – Clinical Support Tool, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT
• The Health Equalities award: Lancashire South Cumbria Covid 19 Vaccination Programme, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
• The Nursing and Midwifery award: Vicki Stevenson-Hornby, Pancreas Specialist Nurse, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
• The NHS Rising Star award: Karen Cotici, Student Nurse, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS FT
• The Lifetime Achievement award:  Dr Clare Byrne PhD RGN – Associate Director of Nursing: Cancer, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS FT

Regional Director for NHS England North West, Richard Barker, said: “It’s great to see the outstanding contributions from NHS staff and volunteers in the North West are being recognised at this year’s NHS Parliamentary Awards.

“In the past year, we’ve seen incredible work to recover from the pandemic including reducing the backlog of NHS care, and continuing to deliver the biggest and most successful vaccination programme in our history – which have been recognised in these nominations.

“As we mark the 75^th year of the NHS next month, it’s an even more significant time to thank and congratulate our incredible workforce who are continuously striving to provide the best care to our patients. Good luck to our regional champions.”

More information about the ten regional champions is below. Pictures are available on request.

The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care award: As the busiest Emergency Department in Cheshire and Merseyside, the team at Whiston Hospital is working tirelessly to tackle the urgent care challenge head on. They have improved pathways, strengthened partnership working and introduced innovative services that are making a real difference to patient experience, staff environment and overall performance.

Rob Cooper, Managing Director, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are both honoured and delighted to have been named the regional winner for the NHS Parliamentary Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award, and to have been shortlisted for the national accolade.

Despite the extreme challenges consistently faced by our Emergency Department, the team tirelessly strive to provide the very best patient experience possible.

They have worked hard to further improve pathways for our most vulnerable patients and the introduction of new services like the primary care streaming service has proven to not only help ease pressure on the department, but feedback from both GPs and patients has been very positive.

We are extremely proud of the team at Whiston Hospital Emergency Department and wish them the very best of luck for the national award.”

The Excellence in Health Care award: Cytoprime1 successfully implemented a non-invasive detection device for oesophageal cancer in patients with Barrett’s oesophagus. It causes less discomfort than previous investigations and is less disruptive to people’s lives because it is a community service delivered close to home. The project is improving patient care, reducing pressure on hospital services and saving money.

The Excellence in Mental Health award: Lancashire and South Cumbria Reproductive Trauma Service (RTS) is a pioneering integrated approach working across maternity and mental health. Established by Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board in March 2022 and operated by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, the service works with six trusts, service users and partners, the RTS offers assessment and intervention for women with severe or complex mental health, providing integrated psychological therapy, peer support and midwifery for those with PTSD following birth trauma, fear of childbirth or perinatal loss.

The Health Equalities award: The Lancashire and South Cumbria COVID-19 Vaccination Programme worked in partnership with local authorities, volunteers, faith groups, and the social enterprise sector to reduce health inequalities. The campaign is focused not only on increasing the uptake of the vaccine amongst the population living within Lancashire and South Cumbria, but also to educate the public on all aspects of health and wellbeing, and teaching them how to live well.

Commenting on three shortlisted nominations, Chief executive of NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Kevin Lavery, said: “I am delighted to see this wonderful recognition of the work done by NHS staff in Lancashire and South Cumbria and would like to congratulate the teams behind all three projects for their nominations.

“The NHS Parliamentary Awards are a great way for MPs to help highlight the efforts that all NHS staff, carers and volunteers put in to make a difference to the lives of their patients.

“All the individuals from the Cancer Alliance team who have worked on the Cytosponge test, the team behind the Reproductive Trauma Service, and the many people involved in our amazing COVID-19 vaccination programme will, I’m sure, be humbled by the nominations and the appreciation that MPs demonstrate for their work.”

The Volunteer Award: The Dining Companions at Salford Care Organisation, part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, are volunteers who support patients during mealtimes by helping those that need extra support to eat and hydrate. They also provide patients with a friendly face and much welcome conversation and friendship.

While the Dining Companions are important to the welfare of our patients, they are also important to the staff who work on the patient wards, allowing them to focus their time on other tasks with the knowledge that their patients are in good hands.

Janet Hegarty, Interim Medical Director for Salford Care Organisation, said: “We are so proud of what our volunteers do for everyone here at Salford Royal, they are a hugely valued part of the NHS team here and I am delighted their hard work has now been recognised by successfully being shortlisted in national awards. We want them to go from strength to strength and help make a difference every day with our patients and families.”

The Excellence in Primary and Community Care award: In April 2021, a First Contact Practitioner (FCP) service was established across Wigan bringing specialist physiotherapy clinicians, employed by the hospital trust, to work exclusively in GP practices. FCPs assess, investigate, diagnose, and manage patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints without the need for GP consultation, therefore increasing availability of appointments to primary care, helping to address the current workforce issues amongst General Practice. This has many proven and wide-reaching benefits and efficiencies both to patients, wider services, and other key stakeholders.

Sarah Russell, Physiotherapy Lead at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, said: “We’re very proud of this project and we’re thrilled to be nominated for such a prestigious award that highlights the work we’re doing at the trust.”

The Future NHS award: The Dynamic Support Database-Clinical Support Tool at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT is a validated measure for rating admission need. NHS England-endorsed, it clinically prioritises individuals based on mental health hospital admission risk. Stratifying need for people with Learning Disability and Autism allows enhanced support services to reduce hospital admissions.

Dr Ceri Woodrow, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, CWP who led the project said: “It is an honour to nominated for a Parliamentary Award  and I would like to say a very special thanks to the team behind the DSD-CST.

“Their amazing efforts will really make a difference to autistic people and people with learning disabilities, ensuring they receive the right care, at the right time in the right place”.

The Nursing and Midwifery award: Vicki Stevenson-Hornby, Pancreas Specialist Nurse at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS FT, works tirelessly with the sole aim of making changes to the referral process for any patient with a suspected pancreatic malignancy.

She has had an integral role in improving the diagnostic pathway for patients receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. She has driven the need for diagnostics to be quicker whilst also ensuring patients and families are supported throughout the diagnostic process, from the point of referral for suspected cancer rather than the point of a confirmed diagnosis of cancer. Her work has helped drive a reduction in the time from referral to confirmed diagnosis from an average of 42 days to 22 days.

Commenting on her nomination, Vicki said: “I am truly delighted to be nominated for this award. I absolutely love my job and it is something which I consider to be a privilege.

“Pancreatic cancer is a ruthless disease which has seen little improvement in survival for many years.

“Awareness of the disease and of the early symptoms is vital and being shortlisted for these awards gives a huge platform to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer which is the real winner here.”

The NHS Rising Star award: Karen Cotici, Student Nurse working in the Emergency Department at Leighton Hospital began her career at Mid Cheshire Hospitals as an apprentice, before training as a Healthcare Assistant. Karen went on to start her degree in Nursing at Keele University, where she continues her placement in Leighton Hospital’s Emergency Dept.  Karen has achieved all of this alongside being a busy mum of four.

The Lifetime Achievement award: Dr Clare Byrne PhD RGN has worked in the NHS for her entire career, most recently as Associate Director of Nursing for Cancer at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT).  After training to become a nurse in 1975, Clare specialised in cancer services from 1992, making a huge difference to LUHFT’s patients and those close to them when there was suspicion of, and following a cancer diagnosis. She has done this whilst also undertaking research with patients, carers and those bereaved, as well as contributing to identify the importance of  health related quality of life in cancer and to address health inequalities.

Commenting on her nomination, Clare said: “It is a huge honour to be nominated for the Lifetime Achievement award. I have worked with those affected by cancer for over three decades and it is amazing to see how, through new multi disciplinary approaches, a personalised emphasis and advances in technology, the care we are able to offer and the outcomes our patients experience have improved so much during that time. I’m incredibly proud of the care we deliver at LUHFT and to be recognised for that at a national level means a huge amount.”