NHS Parliamentary Awards

Coronavirus has been a global health emergency on a scale not seen for a century. The NHS, which first opened its doors at Trafford Park Hospital on 5 July 1948, responded swiftly and flexibly to deal with the pandemic but staff – present, past and future – have had to come together as never before, supported by volunteers and the public.

The nation owes a debt of gratitude to the 1.3 million-strong army of nurses, midwives, doctors, physios, pharmacists, healthcare and maternity care assistants porters, cleaners, and countless other staff who ensured no patient who could benefit from NHS care was unable to receive it. Along, of course, with the other key workers such as care staff, teachers, transport workers, delivery drivers and shop assistants who kept the country running.

Singling out those who have made the greatest contribution will be hard, but that is exactly what we are asking you to do for the 2020 NHS Parliamentary Awards. We know how much the awards have meant to all those who have been nominated in previous years. To have the skill, professionalism and compassion of the NHS recognised and celebrated is a huge boost, not just to those selected but to their colleagues and their organisations.

The Awards are not just for clinical roles or individuals and are not confined to NHS staff either. You can nominate charities who provide essential services to patients, those who have fought to change the way care is delivered and volunteers new or old.

Since we started the awards in 2018, over 450 Members of Parliament have nominated an individual or organisation for an award. Last year, we received over 500 nominations from MPs.The national judging panel was blown away by the talent, creativity and brilliance in the NHS and health community identified by England’s MPs.This year their task in picking a winner will be even harder.

Nominations open on 2 July 2020 and close on the 1 September 2020. The National Awards Ceremony announcing which nominees have won in each category - and the MP that supported them - will take place on 7 July 2021.

For more visit the Awards website.

Categories and Criteria

The NHS Parliamentary Awards are designed to celebrate the work of all NHS staff and those who work alongside them to improve and join up care in their communities.

We are looking for outstanding nominees who have innovated, impressed and made a real difference to how the health and care system provides care for patients. Nominees could be an individual, a team, or an entire organisation.

For more information on the categories and criteria see the NHS Parliamentary Awards website.

The Excellence in Healthcare Award
The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award - supported by Lloyds Banking Group
The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award
The Excellence in Primary Care Award - supported by Assura
The Future NHS Award
The Health Equalities Award
The Care and Compassion Award
The Wellbeing at Work Award
The NHS Rising Star (New for 2020)
The Lifetime Achievement Award

How to nominate - MPs

All English MPs are invited to make one nomination per category in the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2020.

We would encourage all MPs to reach out to their local health and care organisations, as well as members of the public, to seek nominations. If an MP does not have contact details for their local NHS organisations, they can email us at nhs.stakeholderengagement@nhs.net and we can send a comprehensive list of local NHS organisations.

Local health and care organisations have also been urged to think about which individuals or teams they would like their MP to nominate.

The nomination process has been designed so that health and care organisations are able to contact their MP and express reasons why they should be entered for the 2020 awards.

To make it as easy as possible for individuals and organisations to nominate themselves and/or colleagues, a downloadable form has been created so they can complete the form and share with their MP to submit on their behalf.

There are 10 categories in which an MP can put forward nominations and, in each category, there are three specific questions to answer, with a 300-word limit for each. To put forward their chosen nomination(s), the MP will simply copy and paste the information from the nomination form into the online portal. MPs will need to remember that they can only submit one nomination per category.

To access the online portal, MPs will receive an email with a secure and personal link to the nominations website from nhsawards@dodsgroup.com on Thursday 2 July 2020 when nominations open. Once the MP is ready to submit their nominees, they can click on the link and follow the instructions.

If you have already submitted a nomination for the awards, this will still be considered. MPs will also be able to submit new nominations or make any necessary changes to their current nomination(s) until the portal closes on 1 September.

So, no matter how many nominations are received, a hard choice will have to be made by the MP to select one official nomination per category for submission. It is important to remember that MPs don’t have to submit all nominations at the same time however, they do need to submit their selected nominations on or before midnight on Tuesday 1 September 2020.

For inspiration read about last year’s winning nominees here: http://www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk/winners-nhs-parliamentary-awards-2019

How to nominate - Health and Care Organisations and Members of the Public

The nomination process has been designed to make it as easy as possible for individuals and organisations to complete, and to encourage their local MPs to submit them on their behalf.

MPs will be encouraged to reach out to their local health and care organisations, as well as members of the public, to seek nominations.

However, we strongly recommend that you also take a proactive approach – think about appropriate individuals or teams to put forward and contacting counterparts in partner organisations to ensure a co-ordinated approach where appropriate. You may, for suitable categories, like to think about whether it would be a good idea to put forward winners from your own staff awards or other awards you may have entered.

There are 10 categories in which you can put forward nominations – and you can do so in as many as you like. Each category will have three specific questions to guide the nominator, and a 300-word limit for each. This is a limit only; answers may be shorter.

The categories and the questions to be answered for each are detailed in the next section.

Please submit your nomination using the correct template form[s] below so that your MP or their staff have all the necessary information to hand and can easily copy it into the official nomination form which will be on a web portal.

Nomination forms and template cover email

These forms can be dowloaded in word or PDF format here:

A template email or letter to send to your MP(s) covering your nomination(s) can also be downloaded here:

NHSPA - Template cover email to your MP(s)

Please be aware that MPs’ inboxes and offices are very busy and that emails can often get missed; be prepared to phone ahead and/or follow up to make sure you’re on their radar.

Contact details for MPs can be found on the Parliament website.

A helpful information pack on how to nominate is available here:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/parliamentary-awards-information-pack/

You may also find this handy guide from NHS Employers useful when drafting your nomination.

For inspiration, feel free to read about last year’s winners here:
http://www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk/winners-nhs-parliamentary-awards-2019