UHP teams are regional champions for three NHS Excellence Awards categories | Latest News

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust have been recognised as regional champions on three categories at this year’s NHS Excellence Awards, celebrating outstanding contributions to patient care, partnership working and service improvement.

The NHS Excellence Awards highlight work that demonstrates impact, innovation and learning that can be shared across the wider NHS. It also celebrates the people and local teams already driving the changes envisioned in the 10 Year Health Plan and inspire others to adopt and adapt proven ways of improving access, quality and patient experience.

The trust’s reginal award-winning teams are:

• Delivering Value Award - Drugless CT Coronary Angiography service
• Working in Partnership Award - A System Wide Partnership for Compassionate End of Life Care
• Quality Improvement Award - Acute Medical Admission Pathways

As regional champions, the teams have been invited to attend the NHS ConfedExpo 2026 in Manchester. An awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 10 June, where national winners will be announced.

Carl Roobottom, Consultant Radiologist, said: “We’re incredibly proud to see that we have been recognised as regional champions for Delivering Value in the NHS Excellence Awards for our work on CTCA Service.

"This recognition reflects a great deal of hard work by a multidisciplinary team who have been focused on improving access to diagnostics while ensuring the best possible use of NHS resources. The service was developed with patients at the centre, along with rising demand, consultant workforce constraints and limited compliance with NICE CG95 guidance. The Trust redesigned the CTCA pathway to eliminate the need for IV beta blockers and empower specialist cardiac CT radiographers to independently run high‑throughput CTCA lists.

"Being recognised at a regional level is an important acknowledgment of the impact this work has had, and we’re proud to be able to share our learning more widely with colleagues across the NHS.”

Alison Griffiths, Lead Nurse for End of Life and Palliative Care shared: "Working in partnership in end-of-life care is about coming together. By working as one system, we create space for what is often lost in busy healthcare environments: time, honesty, compassion, and dignity. It means recognising when care should shift from doing more, to doing what is right, supporting patients to be comfortable, heard, and, wherever possible, in the place they want to be. 

"We are incredibly proud of the work that happens across UHP and our community partners, to care for patients at End of Life and want to thank all the staff who go above and beyond to deliver the care needed to achieve the dignity patients deserve.

"For families, it brings reassurance in the midst of uncertainty. They feel held, informed, and supported at a time that can feel overwhelming. For staff, it creates confidence and connection, reminding us that even when we cannot change the outcome, we can profoundly shape the experience. Recognition beyond the Trust matters because it shines a light on what is possible.”

Sam Evans, Clinical Director, Clinical Outcomes and Effectiveness (SEC Division) shared: "The acute medicine team are proud to have been selected as the regional champion for the NHS Excellence Award in the Quality Improvement Category and for the improvements we have delivered to patient care in our service. 

"At UHP we have faced sustained pressure across urgent and emergency care, we introduced a new model enabling appropriate patients to be admitted directly to acute medicine, safely bypassing the Emergency Department. This was supported by an evidence-based referral pathway, a new Medical Take Co-ordinator role to triage all referrals, and the transformation of our Acute Medicine Unit into a Medical Receiving Unit. Over 18 months, more than 6,000 patients have benefited from direct admission. 

“This clinically led, research-informed improvement has delivered safer, faster, and more efficient care, while easing system-wide pressures across urgent and emergency care. Regional recognition of this work is a credit to the acute medicine teams that delivered this improvement under difficult operational conditions.”

Neil Macdonald, Chief Executive at UHP, said: “University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is incredibly proud to see three teams recognised as regional champions in the NHS Excellence Awards.

"These awards highlight work that delivers real impact for patients, families and staff, and that demonstrates the importance of collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement across our services."

Regional judges also agreed that the standard of the nominations were of such a high calibre that they also awarded second and third runners-up place in the 10 categories, including some of our teams at UHP:

• Patient involvement and choice award : 2nd place - The Young Persons Patient Council: Putting Youth Voice at the Heart of Care, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

• Sustainable healthcare award : 3rd place - The Reusable Curtains Project, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

• Leadership award:  3rd place- Kandarp Thakkar, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Congratulations to our regional champions, and sincere thanks to everyone who shared their work and helped showcase the range of excellent care and improvement taking place across our services.

The Trust looks forward to supporting the teams as they represent the region at NHS ConfedExpo and help share learning across the NHS.

The Trust would also like to recognise the many other teams and colleagues who submitted entries for this year’s awards. The submissions reflected a high standard of work, innovation and commitment to improving care, and played an important role in showcasing the breadth of excellence across the organisation.

We look forward to supporting the regional winners as they share their learning on a national stage and thanking all staff who took part in this year’s awards.