Hospice UK 2024 Award Winners announced

The Hospice UK Awards, awarded over 7 categories, celebrate the innovative work taking place in hospices and palliative care organisations across the UK, and the people involved with them. 

As a much anticipated part of the annual national conference, they are a fantastic opportunity to recognise and celebrate the hard work that has taken place during the previous 12 months, and the long lasting impact that it will have.

For innovation and champion-based awards including Innovator in Care, Inclusivity Champion, Digital Champion, Emerging Leader of the Year, and Michael Howard Team of the Year, judges looked for stand-out projects which will inspire other organisations, and those which show the wider sector the difference they’ve made to people facing the end of their life, and their families.

Through the two Volunteer Awards, the special contribution to hospice care made by especially dedicated individuals is recognised.

Winner: The Family Link Team, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice

The Michael Howard Award for Hospice Team of the Year recognises the importance of collaborative partnerships and services to reach more people and deliver better outcomes at the end of life. 

The Family Link Team at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Barnet is a relatively small team with a huge impact. The team have continually received exceptional feedback for their dedication to the children and families they support, often with unmet needs beyond palliative care. The Family Link team were also instrumental in the hospice’s upgrade from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ by the CQC in February 2023.

What particularly impressed the judges about their entry was their commitment to building strong external partnerships. Their tenacity, and co-operation with local charities and social services, have helped to keep children in education, out of hospital and free from hunger. This is in addition to securing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for children to visit their local football teams or visit Disneyland. The team have demonstrated a truly joined up collaborative approach, avoiding working in a silo at all costs.

The Family Link Team at Noah's Ark Children's Hospice are a shining example of a team who have gone above and beyond, creating truly life changing partnerships to support the children and families they serve.

Winner: Jennifer Hadley, Garden House Hospice Care

The Innovator in Care Award, sponsored by Ashtons, recognises the work of an individual in a hospice or palliative care organisation who, through a novel approach, has improved the experience of people with a progressive and life threatening condition, their families and carers.

The panel were impressed by Jennifer Hadley's work at Garden House Hospice Care to set up a ‘frailty in reach’ service at her local hospital after recognising the needs of the population in North Hertfordshire, and the increasing numbers of patients presenting with frailty. Jenny is spreading the hospice ethos into secondary care, and the impact she is having is commendable for the patients and their loved ones. 

The nomination was accompanied by qualitative and qualitative data and the panel especially enjoyed the videos of the patient’s stories. The numerical data was overwhelming: this project has increased the hospice inpatient activity by 200% and hospice at home activity by 300%. The impact of this means that patients have been cared for outside of the acute environment, contributing to easing the pressures that those services have been facing. 

The panel felt this was a replicable model, whereby patients with frailty are signposted and cared for at the front door. Jennifer’s work has shown good collaboration across the system with the patient at the centre.

Winner: Aaron Salter, Pilgrims Hospices in East Kent

The Digital Champion Award, sponsored by Here (Care Unbound), recognises the work of an individual who has passionately promoted the use of technology or digital ways of working in a hospice or palliative care organisation.

This year more entries focused around data and insight, and skills development: both absolutely critical areas for hospices to be investing their time and efforts. 

Many digital champions are directly improving patient care as well as process efficiency through improved access and use of data. Champions come from every part of our hospices, our nominations celebrated volunteers, educators, senior managers, techies, retailers, clinicians, fundraisers. 

The panel highlighted a quote from one entry that they believed is relevant to all the nominees and the many hundreds of digital champions across our sector. Digital Champions are 'humanising technology', which particularly important at a time when artificial intelligence in technology is on the rise.

Aaron Salter of Pilgrims Hospices is someone who epitomises that quote. The panel were particularly impressed with his tenacity to solve a data problem and create insights for colleagues in all departments, particularly focusing on improving patient care. 

They were impressed with his collaborative approach, working with colleagues from across Pilgrims, but also beyond into the Kent & Medway ICB, neighbouring hospices, and contributing nationally to the Hospice UK Data Analyst network. 

Winners: Keech Hospice Care

The Improving Inclusivity Award recognises the work of an individual or team in a hospice or palliative care organisation who, through a novel approach, has addressed inequality in their community and/or promoted equality, diversity and inclusion within their organisation. 

Keech Hospice Care’s learning and community team have taken a multi-strand approach to connecting the hospice with its highly diverse local population and removing barriers to high-quality care and support. 

The team’s evidence-based approach blends community engagement activities with a research partnership to build knowledge. The hospice has used this learning to make practical changes to the way it delivers and promotes its services. 

The team stood out for their community connector approach to improving equity of access to quality care for South Asian communities; mentoring and support for other hospices; and collaboration with the University of Bedfordshire to offer a PhD studentship to better understand the needs of Eastern European communities in the UK.

Winner: Dr Adam Baker, Weston Hospicecare

The Emerging Leader of the Year Award recognises individuals who demonstrate exceptional potential, promise, and leadership qualities early in their careers.  

Adam Baker made a career choice in 2022 to leave the world of emergency medicine and bring his skills to palliative care at Weston Hospicecare. 

In just two years, he has excelled in his own education, delivered training for colleagues, introduced and formalised world first procedures into clinical care, and brought virtual reality to the hospice. Adam has challenged practice and process making changes to visiting hours, smoking policy and safety documentation. 

His enthusiasm, drive and compassion extend beyond the medical. Working alongside the fundraising team, he organises personalised experiences for patients and families, such as a motorbike convoy and a personalised message from an England football player. And somehow he also finds time to support the hospice with incredible endeavours, like rowing across the Atlantic and achieving a Guinness World Record spin class! 

Adam is truly embracing the ethos of working for a charity. His approach epitomises inspirational leadership and this award recognises that he is only just beginning.

Anne, Duchess of Norfolk Volunteer of the Year Award

Winner: Harbhajan Surj, Compton Care

The Anne, Duchess of Norfolk Volunteer of the Year Award is given in recognition of the dedication and commitment made by an individual to their local hospice or palliative care organisation.

Harbhajan Suri’s contribution as a volunteer across many parts of Compton Care was impressive, but his commitment to breaking down barriers to getting specialist palliative and end of life care for the South Asian community made him shine through as the winner.

By translating written information in Punjabi and Urdu, visiting local places of worship, and supporting community open day events, his contribution has had a lasting impact on reducing inequity of access to care.  

The panel added, “Harbhajan is a fantastic example of how hospices can work differently with volunteers, and ensure that volunteers can contribute to hospice care in the most innovative and meaningful ways.”

Winner: David Waughman, St Columba’s Hospice Care

The Volunteer Gardener of the Year Award, kindly supported by the National Garden Scheme, is given in recognition of the outstanding contribution made by an individual to a hospice or palliative care organisation's gardens.

This award is given to David Waughman, a volunteer gardener at St Columba’s Hospice Care in Edinburgh, in recognition of the enthusiasm and passion with which he has embraced the role of Compassionate Gardener. The wholehearted way with which David threw himself into the role has been the catalyst for making the Compassionate Gardener programme at St Columba's such a success.

Time and time again, local people living with a palliative condition at home reported feeling a sense of loss in not being able to care for their gardens and shared how this deeply affected their health and wellbeing. The idea for a Compassionate Gardener programme arose as a response to this feedback.

Gardens are often a place of joy, but they can also be places of solace and sanctuary, especially when grieving or going through challenging times.

In the two years since Compassionate Gardeners started David has been matched with two beautiful mature gardens in Edinburgh. He has made a positive impact on the lives of those to whose gardens he has provided tender loving care; forming bonds of friendship with the husbands around a shared love of gardening and continuing to help the wives, after the deaths of their husbands, reconnect with their gardens.

Every year we receive hundreds of submissions to our Call for Papers for the National Conference. Successful applicants display a poster or give an oral presentation at the conference, allowing them to share their work with others working in palliative and end of life care.

Our poster prize is supported by the BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care journal and judged by a Hospice UK panel. The judges consider content, design, and innovation to choose a winning poster.

The winner of 2024’s poster competition is KEMP Hospice, for their poster ‘Minecraft’s role in pre and post bereavement counselling for children and young people: an innovative approach at a hospice’. The hospice utilised Minecraft as an evidence based way to support children and young people to process their grief. This struck the judges as a truly innovative way to reach young people using a medium they were already familiar with.