New reforms to make consultant awards fairer and more accessible

27 Jan 2022 11:07 AM

The government is reforming the National Clinical Excellence Awards for high performing NHS senior doctors to be more inclusive and accessible.

High-performing consultant level doctors, dentists and academic GPs in England and Wales will benefit from a newly reformed awards scheme, which better reflects the modern NHS workforce whilst remaining relevant to the increasingly varied roles doctors undertake.

The National Clinical Excellence Awards scheme has existed since 1948 with the present iteration running since 2004. Through the scheme Consultants and academic practitioners within the NHS who perform above and beyond the standard expected of their role can gain financial awards.

From April 2022 the scheme will be renamed the National Clinical Impact Awards, and to create a more inclusive and accessible scheme a range of reforms are being introduced to this year’s application process including:

Minister of State for Health Edward Argar yesterday said:

The new National Clinical Impact awards will help level the playing field and recognise the extraordinary contributions made by NHS doctors and dentists.

We’re increasing the number of people who will be recognised, and making the awards more accessible for under-represented groups including women and younger consultants.

It’s vital we celebrate the teachers, trainers, innovators and researchers of best practice across the NHS, who act as role models for their peers and colleagues. I want to thank NHS staff for their hard work and encourage everyone eligible to apply so we can reward excellence across the health service.

To increase the number of awards available, the value of the awards will decrease slightly with the higher award worth more than the other two levels. This will increase the number of senior clinicians who will hold an award during their professional career.

The existing application process will also be refreshed to be fairer and more inclusive for under-represented groups such as women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds, to ensure the scheme continues to reward national impact and incentivise such excellence across the NHS.

Chair of the Gender Pay Gap Review Professor Dame Jane Dacre yesterday said:

I am pleased the new National Clinical Impact Awards will reflect the recommendations made in the gender pay gap review.

I am particularly encouraged to see that those who work part-time (often women), will now be eligible for a full value award as awards will no longer be paid pro-rata. Highlighting the contributions from specialities, such as geriatrics and palliative medicine, with more female staff, will also help keep more talented women working in the NHS. Together these changes will encourage more women to apply for awards.

The causes of the gender pay gap in medicine are complex and these new awards are another step on our path to closing the gap.

The 2022 competition opens to applications in April 2022 with the closing date to be confirmed in due course.

Background information