The NHS Parliamentary Awards give a chance to recognise unsung heroes
3 min read
As Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, I have the privilege of visiting NHS services right across the country and I am always impressed by the resilience and dedication of their staff, despite the challenges which the health service faces.
The NHS simply could not function without the incredible commitment of its workforce.
In light of this, I am delighted to be supporting the NHS Parliamentary Awards once again. Now in their seventh year, these awards provide a unique opportunity for MPs to shine a spotlight on the contributions of healthcare professionals and volunteers in their constituencies.
It is a chance to recognise and celebrate unsung heroes within our NHS who work tirelessly to improve patient care, drive innovation, reduce health inequalities, and make a positive impact on the health and well-being of local communities.
The NHS Parliamentary Awards not only celebrate the accomplishments of NHS staff, but also serve as a source of inspiration for the entire healthcare community. By sharing examples of excellent care and innovation, these awards make a contribution by highlighting and promoting best practice within the health service which can be adopted elsewhere.
With nominations now open, I would encourage all my parliamentary colleagues to participate – in previous years I have found the Awards to be a great way to engage with NHS organisations and individual staff in my constituency.
There are ten categories overall. These cover the breadth of care provided by the NHS; innovation to improve services; and the Lifetime Achievement Award – with nominations open to any staff member who has more than four decades of experience or more working for the NHS.
This year a new category—Excellence in Education and Training—is very timely in view of the publication last year of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan which aims to meet the future staff needs of the NHS by improving retention and recruitment. This new award recognises innovative approaches to staff training, particularly those which open up healthcare careers to people from a wider range of backgrounds, such as through new models of learning or by utilising technology to improve learners’ abilities (for example using augmented reality to train surgeons).
Nominations for this year’s Awards opened on 29 February and will remain open until 19 April. Following the close of nominations, a regional judging process will whittle down nominations to one for each region, followed by a national judging phase where the winners will be decided. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 1 July at the QEII Centre.
I hope that all my parliamentary colleagues will submit nominations for the NHS Parliamentary Awards this year to show their appreciation for the outstanding contribution of NHS staff in their local area.
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