Efficiency
Best Contribution to Improving the Efficiency of NHS services

How to apply

To begin your entry:

  1. Pay the entry fee.
  2. You’ll receive an email with a link to start your submission.
  3. Use the link to register an account and begin your entry, you can save your progress and return to it any time before the deadline.
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The NHS is under intense pressure to deliver more with less. Rising demand, workforce shortages, growing patient complexity and social care constraints require smarter ways of working and better use of limited resources.

This award recognises partnerships that have transformed efficiency through innovation, integration and effective resource management. Whether streamlining clinical pathways, reducing waste, or improving collaboration across teams and organisations, successful projects will demonstrate clear improvements in productivity, patient flow and staff experience.

Judges will be looking for evidence of sustained change, measurable impact and transferable learning that other parts of the NHS can adopt.

Eligibility

  • This award is open to any private sector or independent healthcare provider that has partnered with the NHS to improve the efficiency of NHS services
  • These can be single partnerships or joint working projects, but must demonstrate evidence from the past two years up until the awards deadline date

Ambition

  • Describe the project's context, addressing specific NHS challenges such as staff shortages, increased patient acuity, or social care capacity issues
  • Outline the specific goals set for efficiency or productivity improvements, providing quantitative or qualitative targets
  • Detail the impacts on staff experience and patient outcomes, highlighting starting points and potential for improvement

Outcome

  • Present evidence of efficiency or productivity improvements, including percentage levels or other quantifiable metrics
  • Describe the impacts on improving collaboration, clinical quality, and patient and staff experience as a result of the partnership
  • Explain how the improvements in efficiency, capacity, and reduction in bureaucracy will be sustained in the future

Spread

  • Describe how the success of the collaborative initiative has been communicated within the organisation and across organisational boundaries
  • Provide examples of efforts to ensure learnings from the partnership are shared and adopted by others within the NHS
  • Include testimonial and quantitative evidence supporting the dissemination and replication of the initiative's success

Involvement

  • Detail how the project team engaged key stakeholders, including staff and patients, in the planning and implementation phases
  • Describe the ongoing consultation process within the partnership to review impacts on stakeholders, ensuring continuous improvement
  • Provide evidence of stakeholder involvement and consultation through testimonials, survey reports, and documented feedback mechanisms

Value

  • Explain how the project has exceeded initial expectations, creating positive impacts on patient satisfaction and staff experience
  • Discuss the effect on the wider NHS system or organisation, focusing on efficiency gains and reduced bureaucracy achieved through the collaboration
  • Provide demonstrative evidence to support claims of value creation, such as improved patient care and time saved for staff

Best Contribution to Improving the Efficiency of NHS services

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To find out more

Partnership opportunities:  Sponsorship Sales Team
Awards entry enquiries: Delegate Sales Team
Judging and event management: Awards Support