HSJ Value Award of the Year

View the 2020 winners project showcase     Download the criteria guide

NHS trusts and organisations are some of the most efficiently run public bodies in the country and the service is the “best value healthcare system in the world.” With tight budgets and an understaffed workforce with limited resources they are by nature, lean. 

The Lord Carter review espouses several high level goals in terms of improvements and productivity and many quarters of the NHS are well on their way to high standards of operation. 

Empowering staff to make decisions on the ground, reducing unwanted variation, sharing best practice across boundaries and further integration and “genuine collaboration” are all recommendations which are being realised across the country. 

This award recognises the people and projects creating the most efficiently run services across clinical, operational and support functions. Judges are looking for specific projects which have delivered improvements in care and experience. Initiatives which are creating more capacity for patients to be treated; that have removed unnecessary procedures; projects that are providing not only an improved patient experience but making things better for staff as well.

Eligibility

Entries are welcomed from all NHS Trusts, CCGs, General Practice, Primary Care Networks and GP Federations. STPs and integrated systems are also invited to submit. Entries into other specific categories in the HSJ Value Awards are also invited to submit into this category as well. Support, operational and clinical projects are all welcomed

Ambition

  • Describe the context of the initiative – was it a medical/clinical, operational, organisational or communications project?
  • What goals were set that directly related to productivity or efficiency improvements?
  • Describe the impacts on various stakeholders either in terms of staff experience and their ability to improve services; with regards to patient outcomes and experience or both. 
  • Judges are looking for starting point from which a percentage or quantitative improvement can be made.

Outcome

  • What was the percentage level of improvement in terms of productivity or efficiency for the stakeholders? 
  • Judges will be looking for evidence which clearly shows change and improvement from a starting place to the current position
  • Describe the impact of your success in terms of some of the following areas
    • Reduction of unwanted variation
    • Local and inter-organisational collaboration
    • Clinical quality and quality of care
    • Patient and staff experience
    • Improvements in efficiency, capacity and reduced bureaucracy
    • Removal of unnecessary procedures
    • Staff ability to perform and deliver better services
  • How are these results to be sustained moving forward?

Spread

  • How has the success of the initiative been communicated and shared elsewhere with the organisation, system or across organisational boundaries?
  • What efforts have the team or the organisation made to ensure those who would benefit from these learnings are capitalising on that?
  • Judges will be looking for testimonial and quantitative evidence to support these claims

Value

  • How has the project benefited the organisation or system outside of the original expectations?
  • How has the initiative created a positive patient and staff experience?
  • With regards to efficiency, what has the effect been on the wider system or organisation?
  • Demonstrative evidence will be required to support any claims

Involvement

  • How has the project team consulted key stakeholders? This should be staff and patients.
  • What continued consultation has taken place to review impacts on stakeholders?
  • Show evidence of consultation using testimonials or survey reports, how is measured and enacted upon?

To find out more

For all enquiries, please contact Awards Support on awardssupport@hsj.co.uk