We have presented the HSJ Value in Healthcare Awards for each of the past six years, and each year we argue the focus on delivering good patient outcomes at reduced cost has been particularly intense. This year is no exception.

Agency caps, the Carter review, NHS England’s breakdown of the £22bn savings on which the Five Year Forward View is based: events in the first half of 2016 alone have shone an intense spotlight on the issue.

What is novel this year is the scale of deficits in the provider sector. These underscore the urgent need to find better value, not least through cross-sector working. They also signal the complexity of so doing.

HSJ is delighted, therefore, to present 20 outstanding examples of organisations and teams meeting the value challenge. Our judges considered these the cream of the crop, but they are not isolated examples: we received 492 entries this year. My thanks to all our judges, whose job was certainly not an easy one.

Our winners range from an app to more accurately identify babies likely to be born prematurely, to a communications campaign seeking to reduce millennials’ inappropriate use of A&E, to multiple projects improving care for frail older people.

As you read more about our winners, I hope you will feel inspired in your own efforts to achieve greater value in healthcare. We all know this is a challenge which isn’t going to go away, but I know the determination of healthcare staff to make a difference will never go away either.

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Revealed: 2016 winners of the HSJ Value Awards