The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is delighted to announce the shortlisted teams for the Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2026!
Proudly sponsored by the Virginia Mason Institute, these awards celebrate innovative projects and outstanding achievements that are improving patient care across the UK and internationally. This year’s finalists represent a diverse range of specialties, demonstrating impact across clinical practice, research, education, digital transformation and service delivery.
Dr Zuzanna Sawicka, clinical director of patient safety and clinical standards, said:
‘Excellence in patient care is what drives us as physicians to make every contact count. This year, the quality of the entries to the RCP’s Excellence in Patient Care Awards has been outstanding. The breadth of the projects taking place within healthcare is truly amazing and each reflects the dedication, motivation and innovation of physicians and the wider clinical teams they work with. In recognising and celebrating their successes, it is clear that despite the challenges faced by individuals and teams, improvement matters – as does every patient.'
Shortlisted teams
We warmly congratulate all finalists:
Health inequalities
Celebrating collaborative projects that tackle inequalities, improve access and promote equitable outcomes for underserved or marginalised communities.
- Dr Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti – The Royal Marsden Senior Adult Oncology Programme development and substantiation
- Dr Ronak Rajani – Reducing health inequalities in heart valve disease: a new model of community-based care
- Dr Inderpal Singh – Delivering excellence in secondary fracture prevention: implementation, adoption, sustainability and spread of fracture liaison service
Analogue to digital
Recognising projects that have transformed analogue processes into streamlined digital pathways. From unified patient records to digital-first access and tools such as the NHS app, this award showcases work that empowers patients and eases the burden on staff.
- Kinan Muhammed – Transforming an analogue Parkinson's pathway into digital, proactive and personalised care using patients’ own smartphones
- Dr Atif Munir – Digital diabetes education: Empowering children, young people with type 1 diabetes and their caregivers (T1DBits)
- Dr Claire Spake – My care needs: a patient-centred digital solution for safer, timely hospital discharge
Hospital to community
Celebrating teams who have successfully shifted care closer to home – strengthening neighbourhood support, reducing reliance on hospital services and improving access through collaborative, patient-centred redesign.
- Dr Dan Jones – The At Home Low Risk Acute Coronary Syndrome (ATLAS) pathway
- Dr Andre Ng – Digitally enabled acute care for atrial fibrillation – upscaling virtual ward for NHS adoption
- Dr Aravinth Sivagnanaratnam – Bridging stroke recovery: a co-produced hospital-to-community rehabilitation and prevention partnership
The Lean Enabled award for service improvement
For systematic, coordinated approaches to quality improvement that deliver measurable enhancements in patient care, outcomes or service design.
- Dr Agam Jung – The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease: a pioneering paradigm shift in healthcare delivery
- Dr Barbara Onen – Nitrous oxide-related neurological harm managed through same day emergency care pathway
- Dr Reza Zaidi – Implementation of the NHS England National Diabetes Transition and Young Adult Pilot Programme
Research award sponsored by the Bessie Hyslop Trust Fund
Research award sponsored by the Bessie Hyslop Trust Fund[KG3.1]
Rewarding investigator-led research that advances medical knowledge and delivers – or shows strong potential to deliver – improved health outcomes.
- Professor Parth Narendran – ELSA: Screening to reduce childhood type 1 diabetes emergency diagnosis and provide planned care
- Professor Kashyap Patel – Transforming diabetes care through precision genomics: From discovery to national clinical implementation
- Dr Lennard Lee – The UK Cancer Vaccine Advance – applying lessons to change lives and shape national strategy
Medical education
Recognising innovation in medical education and training that improves care, equips clinicians with new skills, and supports compassionate, high-quality practice.
- Dr Mayank Patel – From ‘oh no’ to ‘I know’: Guidance on diabetes emergencies and wearable technology for non-specialists
- Dr Waqas Akhtar – Mechanical life support
- Dr Daniel Keith – Dermoscopea: Open digital education advancing dermoscopy skills and skin cancer diagnosis
The Virginia Mason award for patient safety
Acknowledging work that strengthens a culture of safety, transparency and continuous improvement – even in the most challenging environments.
- Dr Joanita Ocen – The innovative South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service achieving safe outcomes for patients
- Dr Rachael James – The patient benefit of a novel multidisciplinary nurse-led aortopathy clinic
- Dr Pharveen Jaspal – From broad-spectrum to broad thinking: frailty-based antibiotic stewardship in action
Sickness to prevention
Highlighting initiatives that have moved services from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. Through clinical leadership, community collaboration and evidence-based interventions, these projects help people live healthier lives and reduce health inequalities.
- Dr Michael Crooks – FRONTIER: Finding the hidden millions – early COPD diagnosis for preventative care
- Dr Christopher Boos – Pan Dorset Secondary Prevention Lipid Clinic
- Dr Clare Turnbull – Improving patient access to germline genetic testing through the BRCA DIRECT patient centred clinician light pathway
Supporting and developing workforce
Recognising teams who prioritise staff welfare, embed flexible and supportive ways of working, and create conditions for delivering high-quality care.
- Dr Sushma Bhatnagar – Building palliative care capacity in North India through a multicentre, phased training model
- Dr Nicola Johnstone – Empowering resident doctors: the role of effective leadership in driving sustainable change
- Dr Raj Mohindra – Reducing conflict and tension across a children’s hospital: clinical ethics support, part of a multimodal intervention
Sustainability
Celebrating green initiatives that improve environmental impact while also supporting financial efficiency, staff wellbeing and better patient outcomes.
- Dr Shun Yin Kong – Transforming patient blood management into culture and practice in Hong Kong
- Dr Akhlaque Uddin – Streamlining the Nottingham outpatient Cardiology Referral Assessment Service (C-RAS)
- Dr Andrew Whitehead – Right follow-up, right time: Safer surveillance for melanoma and high-risk squamous cell carcinoma
Digital transformation (FIXIT) sponsored by Harold Thimbleby
Rewarding innovative digital systems, technologies or AI solutions that improve patient safety, reduce digital exclusion or enhance staff wellbeing.
- Dr Susan Robinson – Choose wisely, test smartly: A case study in technology-enabled pathology optimisation
- Dr Ashit Syngle – LupusCheck: A mobile solution for early lupus detection
- Dr Baldev Singh – A digitised care pathway for those with complex needs, focusing on end-of-life care
Winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 9 July 2026 at RCP at The Spine in Liverpool.
The event will bring together colleagues from across healthcare to celebrate the outstanding work of finalists and recognise their innovation and dedication to improving patient care.