Health And Social Care Awards Shortlist Announced, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 26 Jun 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and the Department of Health have announced the finalists for its national Health and Social Care Awards (HSCAs) ahead of the Award ceremony on 1st July.

Now in their seventh year, the Awards recognise and showcase innovative work from the front-line of health and social care to improve care and access to services. Following regional ceremonies across England, judges have selected the three strongest entries per category from each region to compete nationally across 12 categories.

Categories range from 'Improving Health and Reducing Inequalities' to 'Leadership for Improvement' and 'Safety in Care'. The short listed projects include: Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford University's Department of Psychiatry, who have worked together to come up a text messaging system for people with bipolar disorder, which enables them to monitor their own condition and keep GPs up-to-date with how they're feeling.

The successful winners will be announced at the national ceremony in London on 1st July. The award ceremony follows a free NHS Live event, open to staff from across the NHS, which will encourage them to share their ideas, and where they can hear from speakers including Lord Darzi and Don Berwick, who will give an international viewpoint on the NHS.

Commenting on the Awards, Bernard Crump, Chief Executive of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement said: "The Health and Social Care Awards are an important way to share break-through local ideas on a national level. There is some really innovative and inspiring work being done on the front-line, and these short listed projects are just the tip of the iceberg."

"What they show is what's possible when people work together - be it doctors, nurses, patients, social care professionals or local government. This collaborative approach will be critical in driving forward the NHS over the next 60 years."

NHS staff interested in attending the NHS Live event, can still register at: www.nhslive.nhs.uk.

For further information about the awards or to attend the NHS Live event, please contact Rob Jones on 0207 815 3970 or rob.jones@munroforster.com

-- The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement supports the NHS to transform healthcare for patients and the public by rapidly developing and spreading new ways of working, new technology and world-class leadership.

Please visit www.institute.nhs.uk for further information on the NHS Institute and its work.

-- For a full list of all shortlisted projects, please visit www.healthandsocialcareawards.org.uk

-- NHS Live is a free, national learning network that exists to:

- Develop the will to create positive change and increase people's skill to achieve this
- Connect and enable staff, patients and their communities to realise their local vision
- Support the spread of ideas and achievements for the benefit of the wider NHS and Social Care

www.nhslive.nhs.uk