Awards’ category criteria, rules and process
Each nomination must comply with criteria specific to the submission category as detailed in the table below. We are looking for examples of how nominees have gone above and beyond their duties to deliver our vision: together we thrive; building compassionate care and wellbeing for all; and our mission: making a difference, together; whilst reflecting our values of compassion, trust, respect and integrity and our Leadership Behaviours for All.
The work undertaken should have taken place between May 2025 and April 2026.
Team of the Year Award
Nominated by staff for a team. Open to all teams – clinical and non-clinical/ enabling teams or project-specific teams.
This award recognises teams who work flexibly and collaboratively, with a ‘can do’ approach to overcoming barriers, while delivering continuous improvements for patients, service users and/or staff to make a difference, together.
Assessors will be looking for:
- Clarity of shared vision, values, aims and approach to achieving success
- A commitment to the team’s health and wellbeing and how they display this in line with our values and leadership behaviours
- A commitment to continuous service improvement and innovation, in partnership with their service users and/or staff
- Evidence of measurable impact
Delivering Exceptional Care Award*
Nominated by staff or the public for an individual or a team.
Awarded to a team or individual who has delivered exceptional care by showing:
- Exceptional dedication to the care of their patients or service users
- Outstanding commitment to the NHS and our Trust’s vision, mission, values and leadership behaviours
- Evidence of involving and empowering their service users in their care
- A commitment to continuous service improvement and responding to patient or service user needs
- Evidence of measurable improvement as a result of exemplary quality of care
Excellence in Enabling Services Award
Nominated by staff for an individual or a team. Open to non-clinical, enabling staff only.
This award recognises the work undertaken by our enabling services to support the Trust to make a difference and build compassionate care and wellbeing for all.
Assessors will be looking for evidence of:
- Clarity of shared vision, values, aims and approach to achieve success that is line with LPT’s values and leadership behaviours
- A commitment to continuous service improvement and innovation, in partnership with their service users/staff
- Evidence of measurable improvement as a result of a project or initiative
Excellence in Research Award
Nominated by staff for a team or an individual.
This award recognises individuals who have driven the use of research for improvements, undertaken exemplary research or exceeded expectations around involving patients, services users and/or staff in research studies to help make a difference.
Assessors will be looking for:
- Outstanding commitment to research and evidence of its impact on improving quality of care or outcomes
- Involvement of a diverse range of service users, staff or stakeholders in contributing to and/or implementing the research activity for an improved service experience
- Evidence of how the research activity was implemented and the learning shared more widely
Excellence in Leadership Award
Nominated by staff for an individual.
This award recognises exemplary inclusive, compassionate leadership that demonstrates a positive and sustained impact on staff, volunteers, patients and service users.
Assessors will be looking specifically for:
- Clear evidence of inclusive, compassionate leadership in line with our leadership behaviours for all
- Evidence of having motivated others and engaged them in a shared vision, values and strategy to continuously improve – creating a high performing, psychologically safe team
- Effective partnership working to enhance the quality of experience for patients, service users, carers, staff and volunteers
Excellence in Quality Improvement or Innovation Award
Nominated by staff for an individual or team.
This award recognises an outstanding commitment to quality improvement and innovation, that has resulted in measurable benefits for LPT’s patients, service users and/or staff.
Assessors will be looking for:
- An outstanding commitment to continuous quality improvement and/or innovation. Evidence of a clear aim, data led inquiry and measurable outcomes that demonstrates improved care, experience and efficiency
- An innovative approach to improving the quality of service delivery and evidence of positive influence for change, learning and sharing
- Evidence of partnership working and/or involvement of service users and staff
Valuing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award
Nominated by staff for a team or an individual.
This award recognises those who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to valuing and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion for service users and/or staff.
Assessors will be looking for evidence of one or more of these:
- Courage to challenge inappropriate or discriminatory behaviours
- Innovative, inclusive approaches to developing our services or improving access to services, focusing on the specific needs of at least one of the following: age, gender, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation, disability, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity or transgender
- Positive and proactive initiatives to recognise and address the differing experiences of our diverse workforce; championing inclusion to enable all to achieve their potential, free from discrimination or prejudice
Volunteer(s) of the Year Award*
Nominated by staff or public for a volunteer individual or team.
Awarded to an individual volunteer or team of volunteers who volunteer for LPT and have made an outstanding contribution to helping LPT go above and beyond.
Assessors will be looking for evidence that:
- They have given up their time, unpaid, to bring measurable benefits to LPT patients, service users, carers or staff.
- The individual or team has shown exceptional dedication to volunteering with LPT and has made a difference.
- They demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the NHS and our values
Special Recognition – CEO/Chair Award*
Nominated by staff or public for an individual. Open to clinical and non-clinical/enabling staff.
Selected by the chair and chief executive of the Trust, this award recognises an individual for their exceptional practice or contribution to LPT.
- Exceptional dedication to providing the best quality care or services – regardless of role or grade (can be clinical or non-clinical)
- Outstanding commitment to the NHS and our values of compassion, respect, integrity and trust
- Significant contribution to helping our staff and services achieve our mission of ‘making a difference, together’.
- This award will consider achievement throughout a career.
Making a Difference Together – Social Value Awards (NEW)
Nominated by staff or stakeholders for a team of LPT staff working with external partners and/or across the LNR system.
This new award for 2026 recognises partnership work to develop integrated, person-centred initiatives – through multi-agency working/partnership arrangements with local agencies, voluntary organisations and community groups.
Assessors will be looking for some evidence of:
- How partnership working has enabled people to make a difference together – producing positive outcomes for local communities
- Shared vision, values and collective leadership across all teams and partners involved
- Involvement of staff, service users and/or carers to continuously improve
- A creative approach that adds social value to our local system/ communities or contributes towards green/environmental/ sustainability objectives
- Clear evidence of their impact for population health and wellbeing
Rising Star Award (NEW)
Nominated by staff for an individual.
This new award for 2026 recognises staff in the early stages of their career or role who have shown exceptional promise, passion, and dedication to improving care and services.
Judges will be looking for examples of staff who:
- have shown growth in the first five years of their career in the NHS or LPT role and made a significant impact at LPT
- show great leadership, innovation and initiative, inspiring colleagues with their exemplary values and behaviours
- evidence of impact and sharing of learning on outcomes for the people who use the service they provide.
Excellence in Patient or Service User Involvement Award*
Nominated by staff or service users for an individual, project or team.
This award recognises team, patient and staff collaborations or projects that have used innovative or outstanding practice to involve patients, service users or carers in continuously improving their services.
Assessors will be looking for:
- Evidence of how gathering patient/service user feedback is embedded into practice and acted upon for continuous service improvements
- Evidence that patient feedback has been acted upon with improvements made to services as a result of involvement and/or co-design, and ongoing monitoring of these improvements
- Evidence of how this learning is being shared across the Trust
Group Excellence Award
Nominated by staff across LPT/NHFT Group for any collaboration involving LPT and NHFT/Group individual, project or team.
This award celebrates teams, projects or initiatives from across the Leicestershire Partnership and Northamptonshire Healthcare Associate University Group. They will have demonstrated excellent collaboration, shared learning and best practice, which has improved the outcomes for patients, service users and/or our people.
They will be able to evidence how, by connecting across the Group (between LPT and NHFT), they have created better solutions and services for our patients and colleagues.
Valuing our People – Champion of the Year Award (NEW)
Nominated by staff for an individual. Individuals should be part of one or more of the following: staff networks, health and wellbeing champions, communications champions, OFOW change leaders, Freedom to Speak Up champions, menopause champions, EDI champions, Nurse advocates, Active Bystanders, or any other LPT champion network.
This new award for 2026 recognises individuals who have gone above and beyond their usual roles to continuously commit to improving staff experience and culture at LPT; helping us to become a great place to work and deliver care.
Judges will be looking for staff who have:
- a commitment to continuous improvement of LPT’s culture and staff experience, with clear evidence of significant contribution to one or more staff champion network
- outstanding commitment to the NHS and our values and Leadership Behaviours For All
- examples of leadership and dedication in helping our staff to thrive by engaging them and championing their voice to make improvements through champion networks.
- inspiring others to take action and make a difference
Who can nominate?
LPT staff can nominate colleagues employed by LPT for all categories.
We welcome nominations from the public within the following categories:
- Delivering Exceptional Care Award
- Volunteer of the Year Award
- Special recognition – CEO/Chair award
- Excellence in Patient or Service User Involvement Award
We welcome nominations from other organisations for the following:
- Making a difference together – Social Value Award (NEW)
- Group Excellence Award
The rules
Applications for the Celebrating Excellence Awards 2026 are subject to the following rules (please read these carefully before proceeding to the nomination form):
- Nominations for the Celebrating Excellence Awards recognise LPT staff, students and volunteers.
- Nominations are submitted via the online form found at leicspart.nhs.uk/awards by the closing date of Monday, 11 May 2026 (5pm).
The nomination form can also be downloaded from the same webpage and emailed to lpt.communications@nhs.net or posted to:
Celebrating Excellence Awards 2026
Communications Team
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
Room 100, Penn Lloyd Building
County Hall, Leicestershire
LE3 8TB - The work included in the nomination must have been undertaken at least in part between May 2025 to April 2026.
- LPT bank staff can be nominated if their work was undertaken between the above dates and they will still be working for LPT on 11 May 2026.
- Please inform nominees that you are making a nomination and check that they would be happy for their nomination and outcome to be publicised. This might involve articles in the local media and social media posts.
- Wherever possible, photographs of nominees should be supplied with nomination forms for use in publicity. This is not an essential requirement at this stage. Photographs should be supplied in jpg format.
- Entries must adhere with the strict word limit of 250 words as specified on the form. Any wording over and above the word limit will be cut off and NOT considered by the shortlisting and judging panels.
- Do not use jargon or abbreviations in the nomination form as panel members will vary in experience of the NHS.
- Entries cannot be amended or accepted after the entry deadline has passed.
- The same entry may not be submitted for more than one category. Please ensure you are nominating in line with the criteria for the award you are submitting to.
- If the awards’ organising team determine an entry submitted for one category is of greater relevance to another category, they might re-categorise that entry.
- The awards’ organising team reserves the right to withdraw incomplete entries as well as those which are considered inappropriate as a result of ethical or factual issues.
- All nominees who are shortlisted must supply a photograph (if not already supplied by the nominator) for use at the awards ceremony.
- The nominators of shortlisted nominations must be available for filming at one of the indicated dates on the nomination form. Films are shown at the awards ceremony and on social media.
- The contact details contained in entries will not be shared outside LPT, unless permission is granted by the nominator and nominated individual or team. They are for the specific purposes of arrangements for the awards.
- Details of nominations may be publicised in the local media with the consent of the individual or team nominated, including films and photos – please indicate on the form if this is not acceptable.
- Details of all winners will be provided to the local media along with photographs taken at the awards ceremony.
- Finalists and winners will be expected to help others learn from their work throughout the year. They will be provided with an e-signature.
- All nominations are judged by a panel of judges (except for the Special recognition – CEO/Chair award which is selected by the Trust chair and chief executive).
- Shortlisted nominees and their nominators will be invited to attend the awards ceremony early-October (date and venue TBC). Finalists will receive certificates and the winners will receive trophies.
- All unsuccessful nominees will receive a thank you letter from our chief executive.
- The judges’ decision is final.
Awards’ organising team
The awards’ organising team comprises all members of the communications and fundraising team. Members of the team may not submit nominations. Any panellists for the shortlisting and judging panels will not have submitted entries to avoid a conflict of interest.
Process for handling nominations
- Nomination form submitted via the online form or posted with a photograph wherever possible.
Nominators will receive an acknowledgement of their nomination on the website once it is submitted. If you did not receive this, please email lpt.communications@nhs.net to check that the nomination has been received. - The awards’ organising team will remove any nominations which are incomplete and/or do not meet the criteria for the category, using the 250 word count limit text only to prepare a shortlist for each award which will be forwarded to a shortlisting panel (w/c 8 June 2026). Wording over 250 words will be cut before panels meet.
- Those not shortlisted will receive a letter from LPT Chief Executive Angela Hillery, congratulating them for being nominated.
- A representative shortlisting panel will determine the shortlist of nominations to go forward for judging. A representative judging panel will determine the winners in each category based on the shortlist received from the shortlisting panel. Panels will not include anyone who has made a nomination to avoid conflict of interest.
- Those who are shortlisted will receive an email letter with an invitation to RSVP for the awards ceremony. Confirmation of attendance must be within the deadline specified to reserve a space and non-attendance thereafter may be subject to a charge. Letters will be sent to those who do not access email regularly (as indicated by the nominator on the nomination form). Team invitations must have a representative that completes the RSVP form on the consent of those attending. Team invites will have a limit on numbers to attend the event.
- Nominators of shortlisted nominees will be required to attend a filming session in preparation for a film to be shown as part of the big reveal of winners on the awards evening.
- Details of all shortlisted nominations will be published on our website and in our internal communications. Details of winners will be shared on the night on social media.
- Media releases about winners will be sent to local media as soon as the photographs from the awards ceremony are available. Media interviews might be requested, subject to consent.
Judging
Any nominations which are incomplete and/or do not meet the criteria for the category will not be put forward. The awards’ organising team and a representative shortlisting panel will determine the shortlist of nominations to go forward for judging.
The shortlisting and judging panels are made up of a combination of the below:
- CEO or Chair
- Two executive directors
- One non-executive director
- Two HR representatives
- Two communications reps
- One staff-side representative
- One patient, service user or carer rep
- One LPT staff member or volunteer
- Representatives from award sponsors
- One key stakeholder/organisational partner
- A media representative
Timetable
- Awards launch – 25 March 2026
- Deadline for nominations – 5pm 11 May 2026
- Shortlisting panel – mid June tbc
- Judging panel meets – early July tbc
- Filming of all those shortlisted undertaken in-house – between Monday 13 July and Friday 4 September
- Celebrating Excellence 2026 Award Ceremony – early-October (date and venue to be confirmed)
Further information
For further information about the Celebrating Excellence Awards 2026 please contact the communications team: lpt.communications@nhs.net