MPs in England, this is your chance to say thank you to outstanding NHS staff in your constituencies
3 min read
Since launching in 2018 to mark 70 years of the NHS, the NHS Parliamentary Awards have flourished.
They have been an overwhelming success, with more than 450 Members of Parliament representing constituencies in England nominating an individual or organisation for an award.
Just last year, we welcomed an incredible range of talent to the awards, including our Lifetime Achievement recipient, the inspiring Joe Sim, who served the NHS in Derbyshire for nearly 60 years. In people like Joe, and in all the winners and nominees, we saw the embodiment of generations of talent, hard work and commitment, all of which will serve the NHS well in the challenges ahead.
The nomination deadline is midnight, Wednesday 6 April
In the last two years, the awards have taken on a special significance given the role healthcare workers have played at the epicentre of what our country and the world has been through.
For Covid-19 alone, the NHS has dealt with more than 600,000 hospital admissions and administered more than 115m vaccinations as part of the most ambitious and extensive immunisation programme in this nation’s history.
These same NHS teams have also delivered more than 23m episodes of elective care, 36m key diagnostic tests, 4.2m urgent cancer checks, and more than 530,000 first-treatments for cancer.
Now staff and volunteers are stepping up to help us recover from the impact of the pandemic. One of the ways they are doing this is through the Elective Recovery Plan that will see staff deliver millions of extra scans and treatments.
Given all this, I am truly excited for this year’s awards as they present an important opportunity to recognise NHS staff on both a collective and individual level for their dedicated service. I know this sentiment was echoed by all the MPs at our recent 2022 awards launch event.
New for this year is our Covid-19 Response Award in recognition of how so many people have risen to the challenges of the pandemic. This brand new award is for any person or team who has met these challenges with creativity and innovation to provide the best possible care for their patients.
This could be achieved by a variety of means, be it through identifying new ways to maintain the provision of personalised, effective care to patients, or by going above and beyond to support the vaccine rollout and access hard-to-reach communities with the programme.
The nomination deadline is midnight, Wednesday 6 April, with the shortlist announced on 13 June. The ceremony itself is due to take place at One Great George Street, London SW1 on 6 July.
At the ceremony, the winners will be announced and you will get the chance to thank our staff. We would love to see you there with your nominated constituents to celebrate the NHS.
Professor Stephen Powis is the national medical director of NHS England.
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