National healthcare awards, 'Our Health Heroes', are returning for the third year and promise to be bigger and better than ever, with new categories added to recognise more staff within the care and healthcare sectors. 

Organised by Skills for Health and the National Skills Academy for Health, 'Our Health Heroes 2018' aims to recognise the contribution of healthcare workers across the UK.

Thanks to the ongoing support of Health Education England, and prize sponsors UNISON, NHS Improvement and NHS England, the awards will now include a Lifetime Achievement Award and Wellbeing Employer of the Year Award. Care and healthcare staff from across the UK can be nominated by line managers and colleagues via the Skills for Health website. Applications for the Lifetime Achievement Award are also open to public nomination.

Entrants will be shortlisted and regional winners and finalists will either be chosen by public vote or by an expert panel, before the winners are announced at the awards ceremony later this year. 

John Clifford, a physiotherapy technical instructor from Neath Port Talbot Hospital, won the Clinical Support Worker of the Year award in 2017. He said:

“I was shocked and very proud when I was nominated in the Clinical Support Worker of the Year category. During the awards ceremony I met with lots of deserving people from all over the country, who are all winners – every one of them go that extra mile in their jobs.

“You can imagine how I felt hearing about all the superb nominees for the category – I could have picked any of them to be a deserving winner. When my name was called out as the UK winner I was shell shocked and sat there for a few seconds until my colleague told me to get up and go and collect my award.

“I feel so proud to have even been nominated for this award, and even prouder to be the overall UK winner.”

John Rogers, Chief Executive of Skills for Health, added: “There are thousands of unsung heroes in our NHS without whom our healthcare system would grind to a halt.

“These dedicated staff work hard to keep the NHS running, and the excellent patient care that we all expect from our health service would not be possible without their commitment and passion.

“I am very proud that Skills for Health, the National Skills Academy for Health and our sponsors are shining a light on their contribution and I look forward to celebrating these amazing people at our awards ceremony in November.”

The deadline for nominations is midnight on Sunday 16th September and the awards ceremony will take place on Friday 23rd November 2018 at London’s OXO Tower.

To make a nomination visit skillsforhealth.org.uk.