We have revised and expanded the categories for this year’s awards to reflect the changing healthcare landscape. All subscribing fellows and members of the RCP are eligible to enter or be nominated. With team entries, the person submitting the entry needs to be a subscribing fellow or member of the RCP.
The following prizes are also available to teams not currently affiliated with the RCP but have had a demonstrable impact in their category:
- The Harold Thimbleby award for digital transformation
- The Eric Watts award for patient engagement
The awards recognise innovative work to improve patient care in ten key categories, which include the chief registrar project of the year (not open for general entry). The nine categories open for entry are:
The Alliance Medical Health inequalities – working towards inclusive care for all
Acknowledges teams who aim have made significant contributions to reducing health inequalities. The award celebrates innovative, collaborative efforts that improve access to care, address social determinants of health and promote equitable health outcomes for underserved and marginalised groups in particular coastal communities.
The Alliance Medical education – improving patient focus
Rewards projects involving the development of medical education and training programmes, services or structures that have improved the quality of patient care delivered.
The Lean enabled service improvement award
Celebrates developments that have implemented systematic change in order to achieve a measurable improvement in the quality of healthcare services, patient care or health outcomes.
The service improvement award has been supported by a generous contribution from Lean enabled group
The Medical Protection Society award for patient safety
Recognises projects that have measurably improved patient safety acknowledging efforts to foster a culture of learning, openness and innovation amid ongoing pressures and change.
The Patient Safety Excellence in Patient Care Award has been supported by a generous contribution from the Medical Protection Society.
The Medical Practice Management award for Developing Workforce
Rewards innovative ideas to improve a team's or groups of physicians working, and development. This may be in the form of flexible working, wellbeing, team or group development activities to ensure staff are working at their best and delivering high quality patient care.
The Eric Watts award for patient engagement
Recognises individual healthcare workers and teams who have made an extraordinary contribution to improving the patient experience and placed patients’ needs, views and involvement at the heart of improvement.
This award has been supported by Dr Eric Watts, a haematologist and fellow of the RCP. As a teenager Eric was hospitalised while being treated for cancer and his poor patient care experiences not only inspired him to pursue medicine as a career but also to campaign for better patient care. He has worked closely with the RCP on work to improve patient experiences and we would like to thank him for his generous support.
The Harold Thimbleby award for digital transformation
We are seeking to reward work on innovative digital systems, medical technology, or AI that have, or promise to, improve patient safety, reduce digital exclusion or improve staff well-being within the NHS or healthcare more widely.
Thanks to a generous donation from digital health expert Professor Harold Thimbleby, digital health fellow at Swansea University and author of the award-winning book Fix IT: See and solve the problems of digital healthcare the Royal College of Physicians is offering an a prize of £5,000 for the winning project of this award.
Sustainability – reducing the environmental impact of healthcare
Recognises individuals or teams that have adopted sustainable healthcare within their department or wider organisation. The award celebrates efforts to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare and deliver combined health, environmental, financial, and social benefits.
Research – expanding medical knowledge while improving patient care
Recognition for investigator-led research advancing medical knowledge that has contributed to, or has the potential to contribute to, significant improvements in health outcomes.
Chief Registrar Project of the Year
This is a new award that will see the top 3 quality improvement projects from the 24/25 Chief Registrar cohort invited to the ceremony to present their projects.