Newham Council’s vaccination outreach programme has been shortlisted for the prestigious Health and Local Government Partnership award at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards 2021.
The programme – “Working together to get the vaccine where it's needed most,” recognising the outstanding contribution to healthcare is for Newham Council alongside Barts Health, and the Public Health teams of City and Hackney, Waltham Forest & East London Health & Care Partnership.
Over 1,000 entries have been received for this year’s HSJ Awards, with 205 organisations, projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist. The volume and standards of applications has been a true testament to those health and social care staff, who continue to push outstanding work and transformational projects across the sector.
Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham said: “Our health workers have been the heroes of the Covid crisis. Everyone who worked hard in the most difficult of circumstances to make sure that people in Newham could get vaccinated deserves this award.
“Being nominated from amongst so many great health projects is recognition that locally we made the extra effort in a community already hard hit by the economic impacts of Covid to ensure that no one was left behind in our efforts to get everyone possible vaccinated to make us all safer.”
The judging panel was made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, including Sir Bruce Keogh (Chair, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s FT); Marie Gabriel CBE (Chair, NHS Race and Health Observatory); and former HSJ Trust of the Year winners Ann Marr OBE (Chief Executive, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals Trust) and Richard Mitchell (Chief Executive, Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT).
Newham Council was shortlisted, ahead of the official awards ceremony to be held later this year (November 18th).
Newham Council was selected from hundreds of other applicants based on ambition, visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that the project had and continues to have on both resident, community and staff experiences.
In February 2021, Newham Council’s public health team began work with the Barts Trust vaccination team and local community organisations to deliver vaccination clinics in community buildings such as places of worship and community centres.
Since February, these clinics have vaccinated over 7,250 people, helping ensure as many Newham residents are vaccinated against Covid-19 as possible. The public health team would like to thank the community organisations who have generously provided the space to host these crucial clinics for several months. Without their support and passion for supporting the community, this programme would not have been possible.
HSJ editor Alistair McLellan, said: “On behalf of all my colleagues, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Newham Council on being nominated in the category of Health and Local Government Partnership, in this year’s HSJ Awards. The applications we receive always present our panel of judges with a very difficult task as the standard is unfailingly high and the breadth of innovation and passion for patient care is always so inspiring.
“This year, we really have been overwhelmed with the level of entries, particularly when set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the huge challenges faced by our health and social care workforce.
“We are therefore looking forward to welcoming all our finalists to the live ceremony in November and joining us in celebrating their incredible achievements and commitment to excellence.”
The full list of nominees for the HSJ Awards 2021 can be found on https://awards.hsj.co.uk/shortlist-2021
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution, London on November 18 2021.