Ann Shuttleworth Rising Star Award

Winner:

Jordan Spires - Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

"Congratulations to our rising star Jordan Spires. Since qualifying, he has championed diversity, autism-informed care and inclusivity through his role supporting implementation of the NHS England Culture of Care Programme. Recognised for his creativity and passion, he is leading transformative mental health initiatives across multiple services, including five inpatient wards. Judges said the initiatives he has developed, such as sensory spaces, simulation training and newsletters, have shown real impacts on the experience and outcomes of those accessing mental health services. His own life experiences have shaped and informed the care he provides, and in establishing holistic therapeutic relationships, making him an accessible authentic leader. The judges described Jordan as a strong advocate for patients, who ensures they are included and have a voice in change initiatives."

Finalists:

Care of Older People

Winner:

Sanctuary Care - Clinical Strategy for 2024-2026

"Congratulations to Sanctuary Care for its 2024-26 clinical strategy, a vision that is revolutionising nursing in social care and leading to measurable improvements in outcomes for residents. This innovative and transformative three-year strategy significantly enhances the quality of care for residents in social care settings. Judges were highly impressed by the passion, determination and accomplishments of those behind this work, in a field that is both critical and often under-recognised. It is deeply collaborative, involving partnerships with national organisations, demonstrating an ability to lead through complexity and build consensus. The commitment to nursing, both in terms of staff development and quality of care, is evident and deeply inspiring."

Finalists:

Chief Nursing Officers' Award for Lifetime Achievement

Winner:

Dr Crystal Elizabeth Oldman CBE

Children’s Services

Winner:

Barts Health NHS Trust and North East London Integrated Care Board - Improving outcomes and reducing visits: The role of family liaison nursing in paediatric emergency care

"Congratulations to Barts Health and North East London ICB for its outstanding family liaison nurse initiative. Working in partnership, this nurse-led initiative has achieved a 66% reduction in repeat paediatric ED attendances through holistic family support and advocacy. Judges praised its strong leadership and strong inter-agency collaboration with GPs, health visitors, school nurses, and voluntary and community organisations. Critically this role supports family empowerment, facilitating an inclusive approach. It is highly transferable and scalable across other emergency departments."

Finalists:

Clinical Research Nursing

Winner:

Newcastle GP Services - Research in stealth mode

"Congratulations to Newcastle GP Services for their ground-breaking Research in Stealth Mode project. This nurse-led initiative highlighting how research can be reimagined in primary care to improve access to all communities. Judges praised the project’s inclusive, patient-centred approach, bringing research directly into communities, where people live, work and gather, via innovative outreach methods like the health bus Monty. They were unanimous in their praise for this excellent submission, which showcased diversity, inclusion and holistic nursing care. With a clear focus on equity, collaboration and sustainability, this initiative positions Newcastle as a leader in accessible, citywide primary care research. A model for the future."

Finalists:

Sponsored By

Continence Promotion and Care

Winner:

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Safe and sustainable continence care in stroke

"Congratulations to the continence team at Hampshire Hospitals for their outstanding work in improving care for stroke survivors. This nurse-led initiative has improved continence care across the stroke pathway, from admission to post-discharge. Judges said it promoted multidisciplinary working and collaboration across primary and secondary care, keeping dignity and continence outcomes central to the service. They were impressed by measurable data on safety and sustainability, and clear evidence of collaboration with patients and families. Alongside proactive continence promotion, the team also improved end-of-life continence care when recovery was not possible."

Finalists:

Critical and Emergency Care Nursing

Winner:

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Safe sleep in infants under one

"Congratulations to A&E nurses at Mid Cheshire Hospitals for their inspiring safe sleep initiative. The judges said this nurse-led project delivers lifesaving, non-judgemental education on safe sleep practices during A&E visits, targeting infants under one. It is an example where preventative measures are embedded into clinical practice at presentation to the emergency department. Judges praised its compassionate approach, cross-sector collaboration and real-time intervention during clinical contact. With strong potential for replication in other organisations across the UK, this project empowers families and healthcare teams alike, reducing harm and the risk of sudden infant death."

Finalists:

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu Award for Inclusivity in Nursing and Midwifery

Winner:

South Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub - ReSTORE refugee nursing programme

"Congratulations to the South Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub for its ReSTORE Refugee Nursing Programme. This compassionate, nurse-led initiative helps refugee nurses enter the NHS, restoring their professional identity and promoting economic independence. Judges praised its trauma-informed, structured support, leading to successful exam passes, registrations and national influence. They said the programme’s positive impact for an often grossly neglected population was very evident. It showcases the power of lived experience as a refugee to benefit other refugees. By championing equity and collaboration, the judges said ReSTORE not only strengthens workforce diversity and culturally competent care but also restores faith in humanity."

Finalists:

Infection Prevention and Control

Winner:

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Blood culture pathway project

"Congratulations to Northumbria Healthcare for their outstanding Blood Culture Pathway project. This collaborative, multi-disciplinary initiative tackled the challenges of antimicrobial resistance through improved diagnostics and trust-wide education. Judges praised the strong leadership, strategic planning, and commitment to upskilling both registered and non-registered staff. With a phased approach to implementation and a focus on sustainable improvement, this project has significantly enhanced patient care and safety setting a high standard for infection control and diagnostic excellence. Judges were impressed by a very strong improvement project that demonstrates clear and passionate leadership and collaboration, to improve patient outcomes and support staff practice."

Finalists:

Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award

Winner:

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Nurse-led follow-up pathway for gestational trophoblastic disease

"Congratulations to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals for its nurse-led follow-up pathway for gestational trophoblastic disease, a rare pregnancy-related cancer. This innovative service integrates a bespoke web-based clinical assessment tool with embedded GTD-specific patient-reported outcome measures, nurse-led hybrid clinics and psychological support. Judges said this highly-specialised and uniquely nurse-led service is setting a new standard of follow-up care. This project is strongly innovative, demonstrating visible leadership and evidence-based outcomes for women facing complex physical and emotional challenges."

Finalists:

Learning Disabilities Nursing

Winner:

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust - Keeping my chest healthy

"Congratulations to Bradford District Care for the Keeping My Chest Healthy initiative. This groundbreaking, person-centred project puts people with learning disabilities at the heart of change, shifting care from reactive to proactive to reduce avoidable and premature deaths. Judges said it showcases exceptional learning disability nursing, combining strong nurse leadership with innovative use of AI translation and professional development tools. The approach is scalable, transferable, and delivers both lifesaving outcomes and significant cost savings. Judges called it a true game changer, with the potential to significantly improve health outcomes and reduce premature deaths locally, nationally and further afield."

Finalists:

Midwife of the Year

Winner:

Dalvir Kandola - University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

"Congratulations to Dalvir Kandola, consultant midwife for inclusivity at University Hospitals of Leicester. Through advocacy, creativity and collaboration, Dalvir is committed to reducing inequalities and creating equity in maternity care. During only her first year in post, she has introduced innovative initiatives such as culturally safe maternity wallets, multilingual tools, equitable data capture and community engagement projects. Judges were enormously impressed with her outstanding contribution to inclusive maternity and neonatal care and health equity. She demonstrates transformational leadership that empowers staff, challenges systems and creates inclusive environments. Her leadership is recognised as exceptional and impactful."

Finalists:

Nurse Leader of the Year

Winner:

Emma Firth - Practice Plus Group

"Congratulations to Emma Firth, regional primary care and safeguarding lead for Practice Plus Group. Emma’s compassionate leadership has transformed care for vulnerable prison populations, especially women, and inspired colleagues through mentorship, advocacy and reflective practice. Judges praised her innovative work and strategic vision, including developing safeguarding frameworks, founding clinical forums and co-creating the Sexual and Reproductive Health Competency Framework for Women Care for in Prison. The judges highlighted our winner’s commitment to patient-centred care and staff wellbeing, which uplifts both individuals and systems. Emma’s leadership style has created a culture where “What would Emma do?” is a guiding mantra, reflecting the deep respect she has earnt."

Finalists:

Nurse of the Year

Winner:

Teresa O'Nwere-Tan - Nexus Health Group and NHS South East London Integrated Care Board

"Congratulations to Teresa O’Nwere-Tan, advanced nurse practitioner at Nexus Health Group and South East London ICB. A vibrant, dedicated nurse who’s innovative, community-based work has reduced hospital admissions and improved cardiovascular health. Her heritage-informed and lived experience approach engages hard-to-reach, diverse groups, focusing on preventative care. Supported by strong evidence, data on patient outcomes and national recognition, her work demonstrates long term impact. Judges said Teresa was a passionate, humble leader and an inspirational, excellent role model for nursing. "

Finalists:

Sponsored By

Nursing in Mental Health

Winner:

Achieve Together - Forensic mental health pathways for autistic people and adults with learning disabilities

"Congratulations to Achieve Together for its outstanding Forensic Mental Health Pathways initiative. Judges praised this nurse-led model for its true commitment to social justice, mental health promotion, public mental health, and compassionate, person-centred care for autistic people and adults with learning disabilities. The pathway promotes empowerment, not containment, aligning with national nursing policy and reintegration away from hospital to community-based services. This group work with a particularly vulnerable group with highly complex needs and risk, which can be considered challenging and demanding. Yet they deliver care in a compassion humanistic manner that strives to ensure everybody they care for has hope, vision and optimism for the future."

Finalists:

Nursing in Primary Care

Winner:

Primary Care 24 - Transforming access to healthcare for homeless and vulnerable patients in Sefton

"Congratulations to Primary Care 24 for this initiative, which is transforming access to healthcare for homeless and vulnerable patients in Sefton. It addresses gaps in healthcare access for homeless individuals by integrating them into mainstream primary care rather than creating separate services. Judges said it was highly innovative, simple yet scalable, and clearly nurse-led, with strong evidence of outcomes such as reduced emergency attendance and improved care uptake. Judges particularly praised its measurable results, inspiring leadership, and ability to influence commissioning and secure funding. This initiative is a powerful, inclusive, and transferable model that addresses an often-excluded group with compassion and impact."

Finalists:

Nursing in Social Care

Winner:

Maria Mallaband Care Group - Implementing ally acoustic monitoring at Kingsbury Court

"Congratulations to Maria Mallaband Care Group for their pioneering work at Kingsbury Court with the implementation of Ally Acoustic Monitoring. Passionately delivered by a social care nurse manager who clearly demonstrates outstanding leadership, this innovative use of artificial intelligence has delivered a 65% reduction in falls and improved outcomes for both residents and staff. Judges said this was an exciting, well-implemented initiative with measurable and transferable impact. They praised it as a model of how nurse leadership can successfully embed AI digital solutions in care settings with positive outcomes. "

Finalists:

Nursing in the Community

Winner:

Primary Care 24 - Transforming access to healthcare for homeless and vulnerable patients in Sefton

"Congratulations to Primary Care 24. Judges described this project as outstanding, bringing integrated care to individuals with high needs. They highlighted the strong leadership and the co-production element, with service users’ views shaping design and implementation. The approach stood out as innovative, structured, inclusive and transferable. An exemplary practice that other providers should emulate. The judges commended the whole team for their support and values but were blown away by project leader Hannah Rahmani’s passion, commitment and can-do attitude and her ability to engage with stakeholders."

Finalists:

Patient Safety Improvement

Winner:

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Early optimisation and ultra-enhanced recovery pathway in elective colorectal surgery

"Congratulations to Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals for its early optimisation and ultra-enhanced recovery pathway in elective colorectal surgery. This holistic nurse-led initiative adopted a comprehensive and inclusive approach with simple and effective improvements to the pathway. By proactively advancing pre-assessment and medical optimisation, often before diagnosis, the team eliminated delays, uncovered hidden risks early and accelerated vital referrals. This approach, including innovative joint clinics and a cutting-edge virtual ward, has driven improvements in 62-day targets, on-the-day cancellations, shorter stays with low readmission rates and excellent patient experience. The judges were impressed by the innovative approach of reviewing the entire pathway and adopting a learning approach throughout. Judges praised a passionate and proactive team who invested in the transformation of the care model, with patient safety at its core. The collaboration between different nursing teams, and the drive for constant improvement has led to a groundbreaking approach to improving outcomes and reducing risk. It is a whole-pathway, nurse-led redesign that makes patient safety and timeliness the default in colorectal surgery. The outright winner!"

Finalists:

Sponsored By

Public Health Nursing

Winner:

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Maternal vaccination service

"Congratulations to University College London Hospitals for their maternal vaccination service, which judges said was the clear winner in this category. It addresses an urgent public health priority to improve poor vaccination uptake among pregnant women. The nurse-led team tackled the challenge head on by addressing access barriers with both drop-in, booked appointments and opportunistic vaccinations. They also used innovative systems thinking and a ‘can do’ approach to address gaps in staff knowledge and skills by developing bespoke training. The judges said the impact of the service was supported by both qualitative and quantitative data as well as positive patient feedback. Its success hinged on excellent collaboration between midwives and public health nurses."

Finalists:

Sustainability in Nursing and Midwifery

Winner:

East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust - Greener emergency response system

"Congratulations to East and North Hertfordshire for its outstanding Greener Emergency Response System project. This nurse-led innovation impressed judges with a smart approach to reducing waste, such as swapping resources between departments and better organisation of resus equipment, which demonstrates a commitment to improving patient safety while championing environmental sustainability. Judges praised the measurable impact in reducing waste, saving nursing time, financial benefits and influencing NHS green policy. They said this work truly proves that environmental sustainability is not optional, it is leadership in action!"

Finalists:

Team of the Year

Winner:

Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance - Urgent cancer care programme

"Congratulations to the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance for its Urgent Cancer Care Programme. Recognising that cancer patients frequently visit emergency departments, this project addresses critical gaps in urgent care by improving pathways, communication and training across services. Its vision is for cancer patients with an urgent care need to receive timely, effective and equitable treatment. Judges said it was a highly impressive, innovative and impactful initiative led by passionate, inspirational nurses. They demonstrated an admirable team ethos by making key issues everybody’s responsibility, supporting transferability of ideas and practices."

Finalists:

Sponsored By

Technology and Data in Nursing

Winner:

Worksights - RateMyShift

"Congratulations to Worksights for RateMyShift, a powerful, nurse-led innovation transforming how staff wellbeing is supported in real time. Judges praised its originality, strong leadership, and meaningful use of technology to drive cultural change, not just data collection. By enabling compassionate leadership and psychological safety, RateMyShift goes beyond feedback, it empowers action to improve staff satisfaction and workplace experience. Judges highlighted excellent nursing involvement throughout, from conception to implementation, showcasing true nurse-led innovation. They said it was a truly outstanding example of how digital tools can be harnessed to improve not just outcomes, but the lived experience of healthcare professionals. This entry stood out as highly unique and innovative."

Finalists:

The King's Award for Integrated Approaches to Care

Winner:

Milk Bank at Chester - The Memory Milk Gift Initiative – lactation choices following an antenatal diagnosis

"Congratulations to the Milk Bank at Chester for this standout initiative, the Memory Milk Gift Initiative. This project raises awareness of lactation choices following antenatal loss and supports families to donate milk in memory of their babies. Judges praised this innovative project for its sensitive, solution-focused approach, which is tailored to families in exceptional circumstances. Demonstrating an integrated approach, the initiative has continuously expanded its reach and evolved its offer. What began as a local service has grown into a national and international model, with lasting impact not only for families directly supported but also through ongoing research."

Finalists:

Sponsored By

Theatre and Surgical Nursing

Winner:

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Plastic surgery innovation project – plastics minor procedures theatre

"Congratulations to the Plastics Surgery Trauma Service at Royal Devon University Healthcare for their outstanding innovation. The team identified a high volume of patients requiring surgery under local anaesthetic, who could be safely managed outside of a traditional main theatre environment. They built a dedicated minor procedures theatre and have now safely completed 3,000 surgical cases, reducing waiting lists while maintaining high standards of care. The judges were extremely impressed by the project’s clear nursing leadership from its very beginning to becoming operational in a short space of time. The whole team showcased an obvious passion and determination despite regular challenges. This project was a true case of thinking ‘outside the box’ in terms of sourcing equipment, developing the estates plan, to overcoming barriers with staffing. The team ethos was visible. "

Finalists: