Urgent and Emergency Care Initiative of the Year

Urgent and Emergency Care Initiative of the Year
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Download the criteria guide

The NHS Long Term Plan outlined an ambitious commitment to transform urgent and emergency care services and ensure patients get the right care, in the right place at the right time. This requires a focus not just on the A&E department, but on a vast range of digital and community resources such as NHS 111, paramedic services, urgent care centres, GP practices and pharmacies.

This award will recognise NHS and public sector organisations and local care economies that are working to build capacity, improve access, and ultimately enable more same day emergency care by ensuring patients are treated in the most appropriate care setting. Our judges will be looking for teams who can prove that a change in approach has significantly bolstered the quality of care, and so improved financial value and patient experience. 

Eligibility

Entrants for this award can be any organisation from across the NHS, as well as other public sector bodies improving urgent and emergency care.

Ambition

  • Provide a clear rationale for the initiative including the context of care provision 
  • Explain how the initiative aimed to improve urgent and emergency care, and simultaneously improve financial value and efficiency
  • Explain how the initiative was informed by existing best practice or evidence
  • Include any relation to objectives set by bodies driving better practice

Outcome

Evidence that the initiative has led to an improvement in patient care, and a resulting improvement in value for the local care economy. 
This must include a quantitative aspect but can also include qualitative measures such as patient feedback. 
How has the initiative better allocated resources on care and prevention? 
What has been the result for the patient experience including any reduction in variation?

Spread

  • Initiatives which have shared learning across departments, teams and organisation which have resulted in tangible improvements. 
  • What efforts are being made to share results?

Value

  • Provide clear evidence the initiative has improved value. 
  • Show how the initiative has simultaneously delivered financial savings and improved patient experience – creating value for taxpayers and patients alike. 
  • Consider the impacts of the initiative on reducing attendance and bringing care closer to the patient
  • Provide testimonials from patients and stakeholders to help support the entry.

Involvement

  • Provide clear evidence surrounding the consultative measures taken to inform, involve and enable participation in the design of the initiative
  • Display how all relevant parties were involved in the initiative, including patients, collaborating organisations, key stakeholders and staff. 
  • Show how the initiative has supported patients to safely self-care wherever appropriate
  • Demonstrate how strong partnerships across a care economy have been developed, including with the third sector as appropriate

To find out more

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