Nominate your Health Hero

Apprentices make a significant contribution to the healthcare sector, and are a vital route of education and onboarding staff into the workforce. We want to shine a light on the bright stars of the future – those who go above and beyond in their role, and act as advocates for apprenticeships to those considering their future careers, whether in clinical or operational roles.  

Award Criteria: we’re looking for nominees who are… 

• Going above and beyond their training to contribute to the team and support others 
• Approaching their role with care and compassion for service users at the front of their mind 
• Putting their learning into practice, actively developing their skills and knowledge 
• Making an impact on their team or organisations, identifying or undertaking innovations to ways of working 
• Bringing a positive attitude and willingness to embrace innovation and improvement 
• Champions for their area of work or the organisation 
• Ambassadors for apprenticeships 
• Able to show how the apprenticeship has affected them personally 

Submit a nomination >

The healthcare sector works hand-in-hand with other organisations every day. We want to celebrate the amazing – and often life-saving – people who make collaboration between organisations work on the ground. Whether they are ambulance services, fire and rescue services, police, coastguard, social care, community practices, or many others – we are excited to hear about those who have gone above and beyond to improve patient outcomes by working and learning in cross-agency teams. 

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Are teams of people focussed on making a positive impact on the workforce 
• Have developed a clear understanding of the challenges they face, how they are resolving them, and what impact they are seeing from their efforts 
• Demonstrate how every level is keeping the patient at the centre of care 
• Deliver services through the well-managed training and effective onboarding of support staff  
• Work across professional, organisational, and/or sector boundaries 
• Showcase what good collaboration looks like, and are contributing their learnings to the wider healthcare system 

Submit a nomination >

Clinical support roles provide vital services for patients and service users – the healthcare system simply couldn’t function without them. They make all the difference in providing exceptional care, and are often on the frontline helping the most vulnerable in society. They are inspirational to their colleagues but sadly sometimes their contributions go unnoticed – so this award is a chance to give back and recognise them! 

Who is eligible? 

Clinical support workers (band 4 and below) in health and care settings who might, for example, be in the following roles: healthcare assistants, maternity support workers, theatre support workers, physiotherapy assistants, podiatry assistants, dietetic assistants, orthotic and prosthetic technicians, OT support workers, and many others who improve and contribute to the experience of patients.  

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Regularly go above and beyond their roles, and reliably work to high-quality standards 
• Approach service users with care and compassion at all times 
• Support and encourage the people and teams they work with, and are a role model and/or mentor 
• Identify and undertake innovations in their place of work 
• Bring a positive attitude and a willingness to embrace innovation and improvement 
• Champion their area of work and the organisation they work for 

Submit a nomination >

Continuous learning is a core principle of the healthcare sector – as new regulations,  guidelines, best practice and ways of working emerge, staff have to constantly embrace learning and developing new skills. Organisations also have to improve the accessibility and credibility of training and ensure opportunity for all staff. We want to hear from teams and employers who are delivering world-class learning and development programmes that promote this lifelong learning.  

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Have innovative approaches that raise the bar and think outside the box 
• Can demonstrate how learning has helped overcome barriers and traditional ways of working 
• Are ensuring that learning is available for all workforce groups, and can demonstrate exceptional accessibility and inclusivity that promotes professional development 
• Can show improvements that enhanced learning has had on patient outcomes 
• Are achieving outcomes that demonstrate an employee-led commitment to a culture of lifelong learning 

Submit a nomination >

The power of technology is evidenced everywhere across the healthcare system. We want to celebrate those teams who have innovated and incorporated digital technologies into their ways of working – designing, implementing or championing improvements that have made a clear impact to staff. These will ultimately have had positive repercussions for colleagues and the wider workforce and their ability and time to provide care. 

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Can show clear improvements to patient outcomes 
• Have made improvements for staff through digital innovations and positively changed ways of working 
• Have harnessed digital technologies to overcome barriers and challenges 
• Can explain how improvements have been delivered on time, within budgets, and meet the desired outcomes of the project objectives 
• Have created innovations with an impact on learning, skills or workforce development 

Submit a nomination >

With clear aspirations for inclusive workplaces in healthcare in place, we want to recognise the efforts of those who are supporting equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and are promoting positive outcomes for staff from diverse groups. We’re excited to hear about individuals or teams who have made a clear, significant, and sustainable improvement in tackling inclusion and diversity challenges. 

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Demonstrate an inclusion and diversity strategy/framework, and can show the implementation underpinned by policies and procedures 
• Can provide evidence of the success of the above strategy by, for example, improvements in workplace culture and attitudes, greater opportunities for under-represented staff groups voices to be heard and included in key decisions, changes made by using workforce data and staff feedback, and/or improvements in staff retention and opportunities for progression 
• Have recognised and addressed an issue within the organisation in respect of staff equity, inclusion and/or diversity 
• Can demonstrate the impact of the intervention and how it has improved workforce outcomes and/or service user experience 
• Are able to explain the metrics put in place to measure and monitor continuous consideration for inclusion and diversity improvements 

Submit a nomination >

New for 2024 we want to celebrate the contribution made by the thousands of individuals who give their time freely to support our healthcare system. Volunteers are crucial to the NHS’s vision for the future of health and social care, as partners with skilled staff, not as substitutes for them. 

From those who volunteer in hospital libraries and radio stations, to patient befrienders and transport drivers, there are more than 300 voluntary roles within the NHS. We want to hear about these good Samaritans, who go above and beyond in their free time, to brighten the lives of not only patients and services users, but also staff. 

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Give their time without pay to supporting healthcare delivery, in clinical and community settings 
• Stand out amongst the crowd, making an impact for those they work with and around 
• Act as an ambassador for volunteering and inspire others to give back to our healthcare system 
• Have made a positive difference to people’s lives, be they staff or service users 

Submit a nomination >

The infrastructure around healthcare is vast and complex, but absolutely critical in ensuring patients can access the services they need. Every person and every role in healthcare settings plays a part in this, and we want to celebrate those in operational roles who keep systems and processes running – whether they are manning a reception, taking care of the buildings and facilities, or making sure staff have access to the systems and tools they need.  

Who is eligible?

Operational services support workers in the NHS (band 4 or below), who might, for example, work in the following roles: medical secretaries, administrative staff, cleaners, porters, catering staff, playworkers, IT and communications, finance staff, maintenance, security, drivers, and many more who work every day to support the provision of healthcare.  

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Go above and beyond in their role, and reliably work to high standards 
• Approach service users with care and compassion at all times 
• Contribute proactively to their teams and support those around them 
• Show a positive attitude and a willingness to embrace innovation and improvement 
• Are a role model and/or mentor to others in their line of work 
• Champion their line of work, and the organisation 

Submit a nomination >

Every staff member in the healthcare sector is a hero for their contributions to the health and wellbeing of the public. Some people go truly above and beyond, without seeking reward or recognition – for example, by dedicating decades of their life to one area of practice, or to keeping one organisation or ward running, by investing significant personal time to improving and enhancing patient care, or going out of their way to make improvements and help people.  

We want to hear about the special people tirelessly working away with great dedication – providing a role model to those around them, and making outstanding contributions that make a difference to the immediate care of individuals and the wider healthcare sector.  

Award criteria: we’re looking for nominees who… 

• Consistently go above and beyond in their job role, and always work to the highest quality 
• Are an absolute role model that other people look up, that people seek for support, and who are respected and trusted by their peers 
• Have shown a long-term commitment to the healthcare sector and their profession 
• Are focussed on achieving the best possible outcomes for patients and service users 
• Have made a lasting impact on the healthcare sector and/or the lives of the people they have worked with