Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2025

The EPCA were last run in 2021; the ceremony was held online due to COVID-19 restrictions, the winners can be seen here.The ongoing impact of the global pandemic has prevented the continuation of the awards in recent years. With the current challenges and pressures faced by the NHS we believe that it is now more important than ever to acknowledge and showcase the innovative work of our members and fellows. The awards were seen as a prestigious event, with over 200 applicants in its most successful years with a well-attended ceremony, this is a great opportunity to come together and celebrate the best of patient care.

Medical Care driving change (MCDC) was launched in 2023 with one of its key aims being to showcase innovative practice by physicians and their wider teams. There is therefore strong alignment with MCDC and the purpose of the EPCA.

 

 

The awards will be managed within current capacity of the improvement team with support from across the college e.g. design, comms, events. The awards will be promoted via MCDC and the main RCP communication channels including the RCP website, social media, newsletters, journal publications and in-person events. The winning teams will have the opportunity to showcase their work on MCDC in various formats such as videos, and case studies, and peer reviewed journals such as FHJ

Award categories

Previously there have been 10 categories in the EPCA. We have streamlined categories taking into consideration clinical priorities and other active RCP awards.

Recognises individual healthcare workers and teams who have made an extraordinary contribution to improving the patient experience.

Dr Eric Watts is a fellow of the RCP. As a teenager Eric was hospitalised while being treated for cancer. Whilst his medical treatment was satisfactory, the emotional support and engagement he received as a patient was not. Eric donated £100k to support the college in improving the patient experience. The award did not have a monetary prize previously.

Rewards projects that demonstrate innovation and a commitment to improving patient care and outcomes through the development of medical education and training programmes, services or structures. This award recognises initiatives that foster clinical excellence, advance healthcare delivery and equip healthcare professionals with skills and knowledge to provide outstanding compassionate care.

Acknowledges teams who aim have made significant contributions to reducing health inequalities. The award celebrates innovative, collaborative efforts that improve access to care, address social determinants of health and promote equitable health outcomes for underserved and marginalised groups in particular coastal communities

This is a new award that will see the top 3 projects from the 24/25 Chief Registrar cohort peer awards invited to the ceremony to present their projects. There is an opportunity to raise the profile further of the Chief Registrar programme and showcase the best projects emerging from each cohor

Celebrates developments that have implemented systematic change to achieve a measurable improvement in the quality of healthcare services, patient care or health outcomes.

We are seeking to reward work on innovative digital systems , medical technology , or AI that have, or promise to, improve patient safety, reduce digital exclusion or improve staff well-being within the NHS or healthcare more widely.

The EPCA prize for digital transformation (formally the FIX IT prize) is supported by a personal endowment of £5000 by Dr Harold Thimbleby.

Celebrates teams that have prioritised team and individual welfare. This may be in the form of flexible working, mindfulness and wellbeing or team-building activities to ensure staff are working at their best and delivering high quality patient care.

Recognises individuals or teams that have adopted sustainable healthcare within their department or wider organisation. The award celebrates efforts to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare and deliver combined health, environmental, financial, and social benefits.

Recognises projects that have measurably improved patient safety and placed patients’ needs, views and involvement at the heart of improvement.

Application Process

Awards announced:

21st November 2024

MED +

Entries closed:

2nd March 2025

 

Entries shortlisted:

18th April 2025

 

Awards ceremony:

10th July 2025

The Spine Liverpool 

Sponsorship/Funding options

The first awards ceremony was included in the annual conference, following this the EPCA were sponsored in their entirety by the Lancet. This included an in-person awards ceremony with £1000 financial award for each category.

Considering the current climate and funding challenges we are proposing to go out to potential sponsors with the following opportunities:

  • Sponsor an individual award category £2,000
  • Exhibition stand at the ceremony £800.
  • Headline sponsor £TBC

Awards Ceremony

The proposal is to host an evening drinks reception in RCP The Spine, Liverpool to present the awards, inviting the short-listed teams, judging panel, and RCP senior leaders. We estimate attendance of 100 people in total. Costs to host the reception are approximately £5,500 for a 2-hour reception, to be funded from sponsorship and/or CQID core budget. Winning projects (excluding the digital award) will receive a plaque and prize of £1,000 as per previous awards.

Potential additional benefits for all applicants include:

  • Publicising and sharing their projects on MCDC and promoted via RCP communication channels.
  • Publication through RCP journals.
  • Opportunities to present their work at future regional and national RCP events.
  • Become part of a wider RCP clinical improvement network.

Decision for Strategy Executive Group

Strategy Executive Group are asked to:

  1. Approve the proposal to proceed with the EPCA in 2025.
  2. Identify any risks and issues that may not have already been considered