Eighteen entries in this year's HSJ Health Management Awards have reached the shortlist. Health secretary Frank Dobson will announce the winners and present the prizes on 11 November.

In the health authority of the year category the short listed organisations are: Birmingham, Croydon and North and East Devon.

For trust of the year they are:

Newham Community Health Services, Sandwell Healthcare and West Her tfordshire Community Health.

In the finance department of the year category they are: Bromley HA, London Ambulance Service trust and North Staffordshire Hospital trust.

Those short listed for human resources department of the year are:

Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare trust, Hillingdon Hospital trust and Thameside Community Healthcare trust.

For communications department of the year, they are: Barts and the Royal London trust, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital trust and Peterborough Hospitals trust.

For clinical risk management team of the year, they are: East Wiltshire Health Care trust, North Derbyshire Community Health Care trust and West Cumbria Health Care trust.

This year's judges included former health secretary Virginia Bottomley MP; Professor George Alberti, president of the Royal College of Physicians; Lord Harris of Haringey, former director of the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales; and Helen McCallum, director of NHS communications.

The Health Management Awards are run in association with Glaxo Wellcome, sponsored by the King's Fund and Health Risk Resources International, and are supported by Birmingham University's health services management centre.