Greater Manchester Cancer Awards 26

Outstanding Care Award

This award recognises individuals or teams who really go the extra mile to improve outcomes and experiences for patients living with and beyond cancer in Greater Manchester. The nomination should demonstrate how expertise and dedication have improved quality of care for patients, whether that’s from an individual, a team or a specific project.

Our judges will be looking for:

• Evidence where possible of clear additional benefit to patients through the care provided.
• Evidence of addressing at least one of the themes of collaboration, equality and innovation.
• Evidence of meaningful patient / user involvement and engagement
• Measurable improvements to the quality or effectiveness of the service / project.
• Project or service must be within cancer services for the Greater Manchester population.

Watch the 2024 winning entry

Innovation Award

Watch the 2024 winning entry

To a person or team that has successfully trialled and embedded change to make better use of data and digital technology, provide more convenient access to services and information for patients and improve support for staff. This award seeks to highlight individuals, teams and organisations that are successfully embracing the opportunities that come from advances in medical technology, data, and connectivity.

• Evidence of innovative change to improve patient outcome / experience.
• Evidence of addressing at least one of the themes of collaboration, equality and innovation.
• Evidence of meaningful patient / user involvement and engagement
• Measurable improvements to the quality or effectiveness of the service / project.
• Project or service must be within cancer services for the Greater Manchester population.

Greater Manchester Collaboration Award

Great things happen when we work together! The opportunities to improve patient experience and outcomes as well as efficiency are huge when individuals, teams and organisations collaborate. This can take many forms, from teams collaborating to provide specialised services, teams in different trusts collaborating to ensure patient experience is seamless, individuals sharing resources and many more. This award is to recognise all types of partnership working – as long as there is clear benefit to the patient, it can be at any scale.

Our judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of partnership working between individuals, teams or organisations
• Evidence of addressing at least one of the themes of collaboration, equality and innovation.
• Evidence of meaningful patient / user involvement and engagement
• Measurable improvements to the quality or effectiveness of the service / project.
• Project or service must be within cancer services for the Greater Manchester population.

Watch the 2024 winning entry

Educational impact award

In Greater Manchester, we recognise the great value of a having a culture of lifelong learning, and this award celebrates those that champion this approach. We are looking for individuals, teams and projects that use new approaches to improve learning and development in our cancer services, across teams, departments and organisations.

Our judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of clear educational / learning improvements for the cancer workforce in Greater Manchester.
• Evidence of addressing at least one of the themes of collaboration, equality and innovation.
• Evidence of meaningful patient / user involvement and engagement
• Measurable improvements to the quality or effectiveness of the service / project.
• Project or service must be within cancer services for the Greater Manchester population.

Watch the 2024 winning entry

Commitment to Equality Award

Watch the 2024 winning entry

Health inequalities impact many cancer patients in Greater Manchester, including ethnic minorities,  LGBTQIA+ communities, women and people with disabilities amongst others. We know there is more we can do to make sure these groups have better awareness of cancer symptoms and help them access screening and treatment more quickly.

This award is for an individual or organisation that helps Greater Manchester cancer reduce health inequalities. This could be through developing new services for groups that traditionally struggle to access cancer services, finding new ways to identify and tackle unwarranted variation, using data to reduce health inequalities and more.

Our judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of improving patient access, experience and/or outcomes for the specified communities at risk of healthcare inequalities.
• Evidence of addressing at least one of the themes of collaboration, equality and innovation.
• Evidence of meaningful patient / user involvement and engagement
• Measurable improvements to the quality or effectiveness of the service / project.
• Project or service must be within cancer services for the Greater Manchester population.

Research Champion Award (team or individual)

Greater Manchester is home to cutting-edge cancer research, and this award recognises the people and teams driving that progress. The Research Champion award celebrates either an outstanding individual researcher or a collaborative team whose work is helping turn scientific discoveries into real improvements for cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, delivering meaningful benefit for patients and the public.

Nominees may be at any career stage and may represent a range of professions and backgrounds. This includes individual researchers who are making exceptional contributions, as well as interdisciplinary teams uniting diverse expertise to tackle complex research challenges. All nominees should demonstrate how they work with patients or members of the public to help shape their research.

Our judges are looking for:

• A clear explanation of the individual or team, their project(s), research objectives and outcomes
• Evidence of interdisciplinary or cross-professional collaboration, where relevant
• Evidence of meaningful involvement of patients or the public in shaping the research
• Demonstration of how the research has delivered, or could deliver, measurable benefits for patients
• Nominees must be working within cancer research facilities, with the majority of researchers or leads based in Greater Manchester
• For individual applicants: An overview of major achievements, including contributions outside a traditional academic environment
• For team applicants: Evidence of effective teamwork and combined expertise working toward a common research goal

Spark of Excellence – Staff Award

The Spark of Excellence Staff Award celebrates the dedication and impact of individuals working within our system here in Greater Manchester, and it recognises those who go above and beyond in their commitment to supporting those with cancer. This category is open to individuals working in any role in our cancer system, but they must exemplify compassion, dedication and excellence in their particular field.

Our judges are looking for:

• An overview of the achievements made by this individual within their role
• Evidence of working with patients or members of the public to improve cancer services, outcomes or experiences
• The individual must be working within cancer services within Greater Manchester. They do not need to be an NHS employee.

Nominations can be submitted for a colleague or as a self-nomination in this category.

Cancer Volunteer Award

The “Cancer Volunteer” award honours the contributions of  those individuals who dedicate their time and skills to support our cancer services here in Greater Manchester. These volunteers play a crucial role, supporting our system in many different ways. This award celebrates those who go above and beyond to make a difference without seeking any reward.

Our judges are looking for:

• An overview of the achievements made by this individual as part of their voluntary work
• Evidence of working with patients or members of the public to improve cancer services, outcomes or experiences
• The individual must be volunteering in some capacity to support cancer services in Greater Manchester.

Nominations can be submitted on behalf of someone else or as a self-nomination in this category.