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Yesterday marked the launch of the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2024, where MPs get to recognise staff who go above and beyond to deliver excellence in healthcare.

This year we’ve seen significant demand across NHS services. Despite these pressures, staff across the country have continued to provide excellent care and have found innovative ways to meet these challenges and improve patients’ experiences.

Now more than ever, it’s crucial to highlight the achievements of those working in the NHS, so as of yesterday, MPs across England can begin nominating individuals and teams in their local area who’ve gone above and beyond in their roles.

Since its establishment in 2018, the NHS Parliamentary Awards have grown every year, and in 2023, over 750 individuals or teams were nominated by MPs.

This year there are 10 award categories, including the new Excellence in Education and Training Award, which recognises a team or individual that is leading the way in supporting the delivery of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan through innovative approaches to education.

This could be through things like using virtual and augmented reality to help train clinicians or championing new approaches to education which attract new staff from diverse backgrounds, such as through apprenticeships.

After nominations have closed on Friday 19 April, all of those shortlisted by the national judging panel will be invited to the awards ceremony in Westminster on Monday 1 July, to celebrate their fantastic achievements alongside the MPs who nominated them.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, chair of the national judging panel for the 2024 Awards and NHS England’s National Medical Director, yesterday said:

“The NHS, with its principle of free healthcare at the point of use, is one of the country’s most valued institution, and at the heart of it is its dedicated workforce.

“The 2024 NHS Parliamentary Awards play a crucial role in allowing us to celebrate our hardworking staff, who thanks to their efforts this year, helped the NHS deliver significant levels of patient care.

“Whether it be clinicians, allied health professionals, medical associates, scientists, volunteers, clerical staff, porters, emergency responders – all our staff are united in their mission to deliver the best care for patients. Our NHS would be nothing without them.”

MPs will be able to nominate NHS staff in the following categories:

• The Excellence in Education and Training Award: To recognise teams and individuals which excel at innovative approaches to education and training,
• The Excellence in Healthcare Award: This award recognises individuals or teams who go above and beyond to either prevent major health conditions or improve outcomes and experiences for patients living with and beyond them.
• The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award: To the individual or team that has worked across organisational boundaries to develop new and effective services to help people living with mental health problems in their community.
• The Volunteer Award: The Volunteer Award is for volunteers working to support the NHS to provide excellent care for patients, helping them to keep healthy and well.
• The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award: To the individual or team that has made improvements in how the NHS treats people in life or death situations.
• The Excellence in Primary Care and Community Care Award: As the needs of patients and the wider NHS evolves, so does the role of these professionals, and this award seeks to recognise practitioners and teams in primary or community care that are working with patients to help them stay healthy and avoid long stays in hospital or being admitted in the first place.
• The Future NHS Award: This award seeks to highlight individuals, teams and organisations that are successfully embracing the opportunities that come from innovation and advances in medical technology, data, and connectivity.
• The Health Equalities Award: This award is for an individual or organisation that has helped the NHS to do its bit by bringing together different groups and organisations to reduce health inequalities and prevent ill health in different communities.
• The Nursing and Midwifery Award: This award is for any nurse or midwife that has used their skills to ensure that patients experience care and compassion, and have driven improvements in their service.
• The Lifetime Achievement Award: This award is for an individual who has worked within a health or care setting for 40 years or more who has left a positive legacy.

The nomination process is open from Thursday 29 February 2024 until the end of Friday 19 April 2024. Patients, the public and local health and care organisations are encouraged to submit their nomination suggestions to their local MPs at least two weeks before the nomination window closes to give MPs time to review and choose which applications to submit.

After the nomination window closes on Friday 19 April 2024, nominations will be sent to the relevant NHS England teams for initial sifting. Successful nominations at this stage will then go forward to a regional panel comprised of senior regional NHS England representatives. The regional panels will each choose one nomination in each category to go forward to the national judging panel. A national judging panel will then score each of the shortlisted nominations and select an overall winner for each category.

For more information on how to nominate and the criteria for each category, visit www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk