Shortlist for HSJ Awards announced

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted in six categories at the prestigious HSJ Awards 2023, including for Trust of the Year.  

The awards, run by the Health Sciences Journal, aim to shine a light on the outstanding efforts and achievements that healthcare teams across the sector have delivered. 

An HSJ statement says:

The HSJ Awards continue to be the most esteemed accolade of healthcare service excellence in the UK. The 2023 Awards will not only adhere to their 43-year-old values of sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes, and innovating drivers of better service, but as we celebrate the 75th birthday of the NHS, will most importantly provide a well-deserved thanks to the sector. 

A statement by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust says that the Trust of the Year nomination reflects a positive year for the Trust, with waiting lists for elective care and diagnostic tests among the shortest nationally, and the Trust’s leadership arrangements upgraded to ‘Good’ (from ‘Requires Improvement’) by the Care Quality Commission in February this year.  

The Trust has also significantly increased its research output, with 33,288 people recruited into 239 clinical trials during 2022/23. 

Prof Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital NHS FT, said:

We are delighted to be shortlisted for Trust of the Year, and the progress we have made in recent years is down to the extraordinary efforts of our staff, plus the superb support we continue to receive from our partners and key stakeholders. We are up against a number of excellent organisations in this category, which is further evidence of the positive work we are doing here at the Trust. 

The ‘First episode rapid early intervention for eating disorders’ (FREED) treatment, created by South London and Maudsley NHS FT and King’s College London, has been nominated in the Mental Health Innovation of the Year category. 

FREED is for 16 to 25-year-olds who have had an eating disorder for less than three years, with the aim to treat people as early as possible to help them recover faster and avoid complications. 

Ulrike Schmidt, Professor of Eating Disorders at King’s College London and Consultant Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS FT who has led development and evaluation of FREED, said:

Adoption of our programme by the Academic Health Science Network/Health Innovation Network has turbo-charged our ability to make FREED available to young people in all parts of England. We are now working to spread and improve the evidence-base for FREED further, both nationally and internationally. 

All the HSJ Award nominations within KHP 

HSJ Partnership Award 

• KFM, SLE and Vanguard - The UK's first fully crash tested transport trolley for critically ill neonates at King’s College Hospital NHS FT 

Medicines, Pharmacy & Prescribing Initiative of the Year 

• King's College Hospital NHS FT, South London Cardiac Operational Delivery Network and South London Office of Specialised Services - OPAT Service 

Mental Health Innovation of the Year 

• Health Innovation Network for South London, Academic Health Science Network, South London and Maudsley NHS FT and King’s College London - Early Intervention Eating Disorders (FREED) National Spread Programme 

NHS Race Equality Award 

• King’s College Hospital NHS FT and Kings College London - Justice for Internationally Educated Nurses working in the UK as Unregistered Practitioners and helping them to regain their professional identity 

Towards Net Zero Award 

• King's College Hospital NHS FT - Anaesthetic gas waste reduction project 

Trust of the Year 

• King’s College Hospital NHS FT   

Workforce Initiative of the Year 

• Kings College Hospital NHS FT and Kings College London - Implementation of SIFE (Supporting Information From Employer) pathway to support IENs (Internationally Educated Nurses') to complete the NMC registration 

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on Thursday, 16 November.