Yesterday, the 2024 NHS Parliamentary Awards were held in Westminster to celebrate the NHS heroes who go above and beyond in pursuit of making our National Health Service better, with two winners leading the way for the North West.

This year’s awards have seen some of the most impressive winners yet, with the Stroke Emergency Assessment Centre (SEAC) at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Aintree University Hospital, and Consultant Neurosurgeon at The Walton Centre NHS FT, Mr Nick Carlton-Bland, both scooping national prize at this year’s prestigious ceremony in London on Monday 14 October.

The Stroke Emergency Assessment Centre at Aintree University Hospital is a pioneering service, allowing the area’s stroke patients to bypass busy emergency departments and be taken straight to a dedicated space to access specialist stroke care as quickly as possible, improving patient outcomes were joint winners in The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award (joint) parliamentary award, receiving their award from Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP.

The centre was nominated by Peter Dowd MP, Anneliese Midgley MP, Kim Johnson MP, Dan Carden MP, and Ian Byrne MP.

Dr Michael Gregory, Interim Regional Director for NHS England North West said: “Since the inception of the NHS Parliamentary awards we have had some incredible participants and winners from North West and this year is no different.

“The Stroke Emergency Assessment Centre (SEAC), Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust represents a huge step forward in the care and treatment of patients at a critical time.

“A huge congratulations to every member of staff and all those working in the service. This award represents a firm recognition of the commitment of all resolved for their outstanding contribution and dedication to patients.”

Patients who are assessed at the Stroke Emergency Assessment Centre and need a thrombectomy – a procedure to remove a blood clot that is causing a stroke by blocking blood supply to an area of the brain, can also benefit from the centre’s close proximity to The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, a neighbouring specialist neurosciences hospital next door to the SEAC, providing thrombectomy treatment within the required time window.

Staff in this service are highly trained and skilled to give stroke patients access to the best possible outcomes.

The other winner for the North West was Mr Nick Carleton-Bland, Consultant Neurosurgeon at The Walton Centre and his team who were joint winners in The Excellence in Education and Training Award.

Nick Carleton-Bland is a lead in medical education and is also the NHS England Director for Online Training Programmes in Neurosurgery, taking a national role in developing neurosurgical training. At The Walton Centre NHS FT, he and his team are leading the way in the use of VR in neurosurgery with the Neuro VR simulator – the UK’s only such piece of equipment, and one 30 in the world.

The Neuro VR enables experienced surgeons to develop the latest techniques, taking their skills even further, and allow trainee surgeons to practice safely, yet in a realistic environment. The VR simulates both basic surgery skills and full, complicated surgeries, including surgical decompressions, neuro endoscopies, skull-based approaches and tumour resections. It encompasses the full range of training neurosurgical trainees need.

Expanding the work further, Nick and his team are developing national ‘bootcamp’ courses for UK trainees, with the ambition to make the Neuro VR at The Walton Centre a key element of UK neurosurgical training.

Dr Michael Gregory, Interim Regional Director for NHS England North West said: “Congratulations to Mr Nick Carleton-Bland, and the whole team who have introduced Neuro VR to training the neurosurgeons of the future, for their dedication in educating and training.

“Since being appointed as a Consultant Neurosurgeon at The Walton Centre in 2017, Mr Carleton-Bland has run a fulltime clinical practice alongside an educationalist practice in undergraduate and post-graduate settings.

“Congratulations on receiving The Excellence in Education and Training Award (joint).”

Two North West teams were highly commended at the awards ceremony. The Initial Response Service, led by Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT were highly commended in The Future NHS Award category. The service is underpinned by six technologies, and is making entry into mental health services more simple and streamlined and helping to avoid more people having to access mental health crisis services.

The Addictions Service at Mersey Care NHS FT were also highly commended in the Health Equalities Award category. Mersey Care’s community drug team is the first in the NHS to achieve Hepatitis C micro-elimination amongst service users.  The team began collaboration with Hep C Trust, Gilead Sciences, Hepatitis C U Later and Liverpool University Hospital NHS FT Operational Delivery Network nurses in January 2022 to work together in the drive to becoming Hep C free by 2023. This was achieved in June 2023.

The annual awards, now in their sixth year, recognise the hard work and commitment of individuals and teams working across the health and care sector in local communities and saw NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, NHS leaders, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, all in attendance alongside dozens of MPs, to mark the staff who make the NHS what it is today.

This was a record-breaking year for the awards, first established in 2018, with 918 nominations submitted by 318 MPs across England, and more than 130 exceptional nominations were submitted to NHS England’s North West regional team, by more than 40 MPs in the region. In addition, the Health Secretary, both Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP and Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP were present to support the awards.

NHS Chief Executive Amanda Prichard said: “The NHS today would be nothing without its staff, and this year’s NHS Parliamentary Awards were an excellent way to mark the achievements of those staff who’ve gone above and beyond in pursuit of excellence in their professions.

“Services are seeing more people than they ever have before, and despite this, the work we’ve heard about today highlights why the NHS is the service it is. I’m so proud to be supporting these awards again this year, and I would like to personally thank all the fantastic winners and all the shortlisted staff for their brilliant work.”

Chair of the judging panel and NHS National Medical Director, Professor Sir Steve Powis, said: “Today’s prestigious awards serve as a small acknowledgment of the amazing work our staff perform nationwide. We are all grateful for their contributions, and I am once again honoured to be the chair.”

“These awards are a great way to highlight the medical innovation across the service and what they do for every single patient who needs care.”

Ann Francke OBE, Chief Executive at the Chartered Management Institute, said: “Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees of this year’s awards. Each and every one of you is an inspiration, and worthy of recognition.

“CMI is proud to co-headline sponsor this year’s awards, as well as sponsoring the inaugural Excellence in Education and Training Award. We know that there are wonderful examples of training and development happening right across the NHS, all ultimately leading to better patient outcomes. Today is a wonderful moment to celebrate that.”

Allan Elborn, Managing Director of Fujifilm Healthcare UK, said: “Today has been a fantastic celebration of those working tirelessly in and with our NHS to deliver outstanding care and service to patients across the nation. It has been truly inspirational to hear about the initiatives and positive impacts by individuals, teams, and volunteers across the country. As proud sponsors of the Excellence in Primary Care and Community Care Award, it was a pleasure to meet those recognised in this category, with whom we share a passion for bringing care closer to patients.

“From myself and all of us at Fujifilm Healthcare UK, a huge congratulations to the winners, as well as those shortlisted. You are all such valuable assets to our health service and we’re honoured to work alongside you all.”

Dr Matthew Lee, Medical Defence Union (MDU) Chief Executive, said: “The MDU is proud to have sponsored this year’s NHS Parliamentary Awards and offers its warmest congratulations to this year’s winners and nominees.

“The standard of this year’s entries was extremely high which reflects the hard work, dedication and tenacity of NHS colleagues across the country.

“As such, the MDU is honoured to champion and advocate for healthcare workers’ professional interests both in and outside of Westminster.”