IHP new this year
NEW: Best Provider of Community and Primary Care

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.
Start your entry

The NHS is shifting more care into community and primary care settings to reduce pressure on hospitals, improve continuity and deliver more personalised support for people with complex or long-term needs. However, capacity remains stretched and local pathways are often fragmented. Independent providers are increasingly helping to close these gaps by delivering services such as home visiting, community-based clinics, case management and extended access in collaboration with general practice and local teams.

This award is for providers delivering community-based NHS care that improves access, reduces fragmentation and helps people manage their health closer to home. That may include services aligned with neighbourhood teams, urgent community response, step-down care or ongoing support for those at high risk of deterioration. We welcome entries that demonstrate joined up working and a measurable impact for patients.

Eligibility

  • Open to independent healthcare providers delivering community or primary care services free at the point of care to NHS patients. All entries must show evidence of service delivery and impact within the past two years.

Ambition

  • Explain the specific local or system challenge your service responds to, such as unmet need, poor continuity or access barriers
  • Describe your model of care and how it supports patients to manage their health in a community or primary care setting
  • Set out how the service contributes to national and local goals around integrated, neighbourhood-based or out of hospital care

Outcome

  • Provide data showing improvements in access, experience or outcomes for NHS patients
  • Share evidence of reduced emergency demand, improved care planning or better management of long-term conditions
  • Include feedback from patients, carers or referring professionals about the quality and accessibility of your service

Spread

  • Describe how the model has been adapted, replicated or extended to new patient groups or locations
  • Share any tools, systems or support that have enabled wider uptake or workforce development
  • Highlight collaboration with GP practices, community teams or voluntary sector services to align delivery and share learning

Value

  •  Demonstrate how the service has reduced pressure on hospital, urgent or general practice services
  • Show how patients are receiving more continuous, coordinated or timely care
  • Provide evidence of resource savings or more efficient use of staff time across the system

Involvement

  • Explain how you engaged patients, GP teams or other professionals in designing or refining the service
  • Highlight contributions from multidisciplinary or community-based teams involved in delivery
  • Show how feedback, co-design or shared learning has informed service development and ongoing improvement

NEW: Best Provider of Community and Primary Care

Start your entry

To find out more

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