NHS Excellence Awards: South East regional champions 2026

The NHS Excellence Awards have been created to celebrate the most innovative and impactful work taking place across health and social care – and to help spread the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.

The South East regional champions from the NHS Excellence Awards 2026 are:

▼ Delivering value award

The Medway SMART Acute Virtual Hospital

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

The Virtual Hospital has delivered measurable impact by providing safe, consultant-led acute care at home with high success rates and rapid response times, creating significant system capacity and cost savings, while supporting workforce sustainability and improving patient outcomes at scale.
▼ Digital innovation award

Enhancing T2/T3 Prescribing with Digitisation and Decision Support in ePMA

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

The digital solution has improved MHA compliance, patient safety and staff experience by ensuring real-time access to accurate documentation, reducing risk, and supporting safer, more consistent care.
▼ Improving health outcomes award

Isle of Wight Ambulance Service – Out‑of‑Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement Programme

Isle of Wight NHS Trust

The Isle of Wight Ambulance Service has transformed cardiac arrest outcomes through faster response, community CPR training, enhanced pre-hospital care, and improved access to specialist treatment.
▼ Leadership award

Michelle Gallagher

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

▼ Neighbourhood health award

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)

▼ Patient involvement and choice award

Care Co-ordinators + Family Engagement Leads – The Baby Steps: Our Neonatal Journey Cards

South East Neonatal ODN

▼ Quality improvement award

Integrated Frailty Crisis Pathway

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

▼ Sustainable healthcare award

Green Nursing Challenge 2025: A transformative 15 week journey

Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

▼ Valuing our people award

BrigHT futures @BHT

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

▼ Working in partnership award

Solving Problems, Transforming Lives: Addressing the underlying triggers of mental health crisis

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust & Citizens Advice Winchester District