First among equals

The deadline for entries to the 2004 HSJ Awards is less than two months away.We talk to three of last year's winners about what their success has allowed them to achieve

CHRONIC-DISEASE MANAGEMENT: sponsored by Sanofi-Synthelabo

The winners of the Chronic-Disease Management category at the 2003 HSJ Awards say their success has meant an increased awareness among the hardto-reach members of the community they were targeting and an expansion of the scheme as a result.

South East Sheffield primary care trust's winning project was a targeted screening programme carried out in local mosques and various community settings to identify undiagnosed coronary heart disease and diabetes.

Nurse consultant Dianne Judge tells how the award has helped the project: 'The award was publicised in the local press and news of our success was disseminated widely in the region, ' she says. 'It has raised awareness of what we are doing and it has made people contact us to get more information.'

She explains that the award has lent weight to the project and that pharmacies have been more inclined to lend their support. 'It has also allowed us to recruit 10 extra expert patients, ' she says. 'It has ensured that the work has been sustained.'

Ms Judge explains that the award has also added value to the project: 'The award represents a very robust evaluation - what can't speak, can't lie, ' she states. 'It was also identified in a Commission for Health Improvement report as a very positive thing to have.'

Finally, she says that the award has created interest from other healthcare professionals. 'We have had lots of interest from the region and from outside Sheffield. They have visited places where we hold screenings and we keep people updated on developments.'

COMMUNICATIONS: sponsored by Fishburn Hedges

Central Liverpool PCT won the Communications category last year.

The winning project was the 'Get the right treatment' campaign. This was a national project, which was developed locally as a toolkit to help people choose the right healthcare option for their needs.

Communications lead Bridget Jones says the PCT was delighted to win its category. 'It reinforced the success of what we knew had been a very successful campaign that had significant benefits for the people who use our services, ' she explains.

The award also rewarded the staff involved, says Ms Jones. 'Winning the award was a great morale boost for the staff who had worked on the campaign.'

She explains that the award gave the project another platform on which to publicise the project.

'We were able to generate coverage of the award in the local press and this provided us with another opportunity to publicise the campaign messages and its successful outcomes in improving services.'

Since the success of the campaign, the trust has gone on to adopt a similar approach with other messages such as flu and cervical screening.

IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: sponsored by Dr Foster

The winners of the Improvement in Performance Management category last year say the main benefit has been to raise the profile of their project.

The winning project was the North West quality improvement programme in cardiac intervention, which involves four different trusts across the North West. The Cardiac Centre's head of clinical governance in Liverpool, Dr Mark Jackson, tells how delighted the trusts were to receive the award.

'The team are still basking in the glory of the award, ' he says. 'There were four consortiums participating in the project and they were all very pleased to get the award. The award injected a lot of energy into what we were doing. It has been very positive all round.'

'The award itself is 'out there somewhere', he adds. 'We take it in turns to display the trophy in each trust and everyone is very pleased to have it on their desks.'

The team received letters of congratulations from colleagues as a result of publicity in HSJ. They also had enquiries from other organisations around the country, who were interested in implementing the project within their own trusts.