Guidance

Applicants' quick guide: 2024 awards round

Updated 4 March 2024

Applies to England and Wales

The 2024 awards round opens on 4 March and closes at 5pm on 15 April 2024.

About the Clinical Impact Awards

Since the NHS was formed in 1948, there have been awards for NHS consultants who make outstanding contributions. In 2021, following a consultation on reforming the national Clinical Excellence Awards, we increased the number of awards to broaden the diversity of award holders and the number of awardees. This is to encourage innovation across all specialties and geographic areas, enabling breakthroughs and improvements in patient care.

The result is the national Clinical Impact Awards (NCIAs) - an updated awards scheme that is simpler, more relevant and with wider reach. The awards are designed to recognise and retain dedicated clinicians who lead the way in demonstrating national impact in the provision and improvement of patient care, by going above and beyond their demanding roles. They are run by the Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards (ACCIA).

If you have a question that is not covered, email accia@dhsc.gov.uk.

What the changes bring

More awards

After the transition period between Clinical Excellence and Clinical Impact Awards, we plan to have up to 600 awards each year in England and 37 in Wales.

A new brand

The NCIAs recognise the national impact of the work you do. Local impact is recognised by local awards.

3 award levels

In England:

• national 1 (N1) (lowest)
• national 2 (N2)
• national 3 (N3) (highest)

Four levels in Wales: 0 to 3, plus commitment awards.

5 domains

1. Service delivery and development.
2. Leadership.
3. Education, training and people development.
4. Innovation and research.
5. Additional national impact.

An easier application process

A single-level application process, and the level of the award you get is based on your score so you can get a higher award more quickly.

Simplified for employers

Employers only need to indicate their support or lack of support, and provide a citation for each applicant.

No prorated awards

Those working less than full time will receive the full value of award payments.

No renewals

All awards are held for 5 years. You can then re-apply for a new award.

No pensionability

NCIAs are not pensionable or consolidated.

Why you should apply

When you apply, you will:

• demonstrate and be recognised for your national achievements
• share your work with your peers
• support your sector and showcase what you have delivered
• inspire colleagues to strive for innovation - which in turn will bring further benefits and improvements for patients

If you are successful, you will be recognised with a financial award that reflects your outstanding contribution.

Completing your application will take time and commitment, however there is plenty of support available. Use this quick guide to understand what is needed for each level of the awards and start to think about your evidence.

See the main guidance for comprehensive details about what you need to know for your application.

Who can qualify

The awards are for NHS consultants and academic GPs based in England and Wales who are registered on the:

• General Dental Council (GDC) specialist list
• General Medical Council (GMC) specialist list
• GP register

You will qualify if you are a permanent NHS consultant or on an honorary contract and fulfil the relevant following criteria:

• fully registered with a licence to practise
• an academic GP in a permanent clinical academic role in higher education at senior lecturer level or above
• employed by the NHS, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) or its arm’s length bodies, a university, medical or dental school, local authority or a Welsh government-associated organisation
• in role for at least one year, on 1 April 2024
• in England - on an NHS consultant contract expressed in programmed activities (PAs), or an academic contract expressed in an equivalent pay scale
• in Wales - on an NHS consultant contract expressed in sessions
• working a minimum of 3 clinically relevant contracted PAs

‘Clinically relevant’ eligibility is determined by considering the description of your activities that describe how you directly undertake clinical care, teaching, training and research activities within the allocated PAs in job plans.

Full details about what your role needs to involve are available in the main guidance. It also covers reasons you may not be eligible, such as:

• if you are not on the consultant pay scale as expressed in PAs or an equivalent
• if you are contracted to work fewer than 3 clinically relevant PAs
• if you are a locum consultant or a consultant on a fixed term or rolling fixed contract, unless under specific employer policies for retire and return arrangements
• if you work in general management without a specific clinical role
• if you are not fully registered with a licence to practise

Overseas work that has not helped the NHS and public health directly or had a direct reputational benefit for the NHS overseas is not admissible.

Investigations into your work and disciplinary or legal action against you can affect your award or application. You must let us know about any investigations that have been initiated as soon as possible.

The application process

All applications are completed online at the ACCIA application portal. You must submit your application by 5pm on 15 April 2024.

Read the available guides and log in to the portal early. You can log back in and edit your application up until you submit it, but you should save it regularly until you are satisfied that it’s complete. You can also print your application, but you must fill in the online application yourself - no one else can do it for you.

How we’ve simplified it

We’ve simplified our processes to make applying for an award easier:

• you only need to submit one online application for scoring
• the aim after the transition period is for up to 600 new NCIAs each year in England - split 330 N1 awards at £20,000, 200 N2 awards at £30,000 and 70 N3 awards at £40,000 - with up to 37 awards in Wales
• scoring groups and numbers are balanced to optimise committee diversity and help to avoid unconscious bias
• applications from those with a disability or extenuating circumstances are welcomed with the relevant supporting information
• all applications are scored against the same criteria
• each region has an equal opportunity for success with an indicative number of awards at each level (N1, N2 or N3) based on application numbers
• tied applications are rescored by the National Reserve Sub-committee (NRES), along with those identified through national governance review
• regional sub-committees and the main committee recommend applicants for national awards to ministers for them to approve
• each region’s highest scoring applicants are pooled nationally and rescored by the N3 committee to agree those most deserving of the highest award - those who are unsuccessful at N3 receive an N2 award
• if you successfully gain an award it will last 5 years, backdated to 1 April 2024 unless you are in transition from a national Clinical Excellence Award, when it will start on 1 April 2025

Before you start your application:

• read the guides so you know what is expected and by when
• plan your timings to allow time for sign-off from your employer before you submit the form
• check your employer’s email address with your trust administrator and that they have registered on the portal
• if there are special circumstances that could affect your application, like ill health or other extenuating circumstances, tell us before the deadline - preferably before you finish your application, and include details in your application

Each step of your application

Step 1: sign in

You can register on the ACCIA portal at any time but will only be able to start your application when the application window is open. If registering for the first time, select ‘new to the system’ and complete the form as a ‘Contact of an Existing Employer’. If your employer is not listed, applicants working in England should contact us at accia@dhsc.gov.uk. You will get an email with your login details and be asked to set up a password.

Applicants working in Wales should contact accia@wales.nhs.uk for any queries or issues.

Step 2: privacy notice

You need to agree to how we collect, process and store your information.

Step 3: start your application

Select ‘Apply for a Clinical Impact Award’ and the ‘2024 Award Round’. If you are continuing an application that has already been started, you may need to scroll down the page (particularly on smaller screens) to see the link to your draft application.

Step 4: complete your applicant profile

This information is for our monitoring purposes and allows us to accurately report on the diversity of the scheme. Some information is not visible to scorers to minimise any unconscious or other bias. You need to add your: 

• personal and contact details
• GMC and/or GDC registration
• current employment details for your primary NHS employer and primary non-NHS employer, if you have one
• pension scheme membership and if you are an academic or teaching consultant
• background and diversity details
• details of any investigations or disciplinary procedures in the last 5 years

You can save your work at any time using the button in the middle of the screen.

You will need to complete and submit your profile before you are able to submit your application. If you have applied in the 2022 or 2023 rounds, check that the information provided remains accurate.

Step 5: your application details

Complete the ‘Details’ tab with the following information:

• your consultant appointments in date order
• any post-graduate qualifications stating the year you qualified and which institution you studied at
• any current national award, and which level
• if you received a new national Clinical Excellence Award at any level in 2021 or 2022
• your registration and licensing status
• your personal statement, including details of any organisation that has advised you in developing your application, along with your permission for us to publish it, if you are successful
• if your primary employer is in England or Wales
• if you have taken any part of your pension or retired and returned to work, giving us the dates that you did so
• if your most recent national award has ended for any reason or was withdrawn

Save your work frequently using the button at the bottom of the page. You will need to have completed all the mandatory fields before you can submit your application.

Step 6: your job plan

Use the ‘Job Plan’ tab to tell us: 

• the number of direct clinical care, academic, supporting professional activities and planned PAs that are specified in your agreed job plan
• the activities you do for each of your PAs, including any changes in the last 5 years
• any other sessions you are paid for
• any sessions you are not paid for
• any additional income from any wider role outside your job plan - if you have additional income, explain how it relates to the evidence in your application
• any extenuating circumstances

Step 7: domains

Provide your evidence of national clinical impact for each of the 5 domains. They are:

• domain 1: delivering and developing a high-quality service
• domain 2: leadership
• domain 3: education, training and people development
• domain 4: innovation and research - this should include up to 10 of your most significant publications, whether web-based or multi-media outputs, and up to 5 reviews and textbooks
• domain 5: additional national impact - here, tell us about any other high-quality work with nationally or internationally recognised impact that has a direct benefit to the NHS. Do not repeat information from other domains or it will not be scored

You must restrict your evidence to a maximum of 2,000 characters for each domain.

All evidence must be clearly dated or it is likely it will not be scored sufficiently highly to have a chance to gain an award. More details on what a good submission for each domain looks like are set out in the main guidance.

Step 8: ratings and inspections

We need to know if your employer has been inspected by either the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England or Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) in Wales, and if so:

• the date of the inspection
• the rating
• your role in the ratings and any improvement plans

If they have not been inspected or have been rated differently, tell us the details.

You will need to confirm that the information you have is provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge. 

Step 9: submit your application for review by your employer

Click ‘Submit’ in the bottom right corner to send your application to your employer. If you work for a university, this should be the nominated person at the trust where you hold an honorary contract that you named in step 1.

Your employer will be asked to confirm:

• if your application is supported or not supported - if it is not supported, they will be asked to explain why
• that you are working to professional and personal conduct standards
• that you have had a formal appraisal in the last 12 months, agreed a job plan, fulfilled your contractual obligations and complied with the Private Practice Code of Conduct, if relevant
• if they are aware of any disciplinary or professional proceedings or investigations inside or outside the trust - if so, what they are and to comment on any outcomes, warning or sanctions that resulted

They will also be asked to provide a citation commenting on the merits of your application and your work towards meeting the trust’s objectives 

If your employer feels there should be any changes before they complete their section, they can return your application to you. If they do this you will receive notes explaining their reasoning. 

An automatic notification will be sent to your employer when you submit your application for them to complete their section. However, we strongly advise that you personally inform the appropriate people by other means that this has been done, to ensure the form is completed in good time.

We cannot allow any late applications because of delays by your employer.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their employer completes this section in good time, and applications without this section completed cannot be accepted.

Step 10: review your employer’s section

When your employer has completed their section they will send your application back to you to review. If you feel your employer’s section needs amending, discuss any proposed changes with them and contact accia@dhsc.gov.uk (applicants in England) or accia@wales.nhs.uk (applicants in Wales).

Step 11: submit your application

When all sections, including the employer section, are complete, you are ready to submit your application. After you submit, you cannot change your application through the portal, so double check you are happy with all aspects of your application.

If you find that you need to change something after it’s submitted, contact accia@dhsc.gov.uk.

Step 12: after submission

After you submit your application it will move from ‘In Progress’ to ‘Submitted’ on the landing page when you log into your account again.

How your application is scored

It is important that you read the guidance and look at the examples for each domain as your submission for each of them is allocated a score:

• 10 = your application is excellent with clear national impact
• 6 = your work is over and above your contract terms and should have national or at least demonstrable regional impact
• 2 = you have met the terms of your contract or mostly within your local area
• 0 = you have not met the terms of your contract or there’s not enough information to make a judgement

Things to do when you apply

When you fill in your application form, follow the steps in this guide:

• ensure all evidence is dated and explain if any activity is still ongoing - if the dates are not clear, it will bring your score down
• give clear dates for your achievements - focus on evidence from the last 5 years, what you have achieved since any prior award and how your work has progressed since gaining it
• if your last award was less than 5 years ago, give evidence since your last award and be clear about what you have achieved since then
• if your last award was more than 5 years ago, concentrate on evidence from the last 5 years
• make your content specific to the criteria for the relevant domain
• include compelling evidence of what you achieved and how you personally contributed
• demonstrate the outcome and results of the changes you implemented
• explain the wider impact on your patients, colleagues or the NHS
• state measurable information - such as outcome data, quote dates, source and relevant benchmarks
• make sure that the national or international impact your work has achieved is clear
• use a new line for each entry and spacing to make information clearer and easier to read
• highlight the most important examples of your work focusing on its national and international impacts

Things to avoid doing when you apply

When you fill in your application form, make sure you:

• do not repeat content across the different domains unless it has a specific relevance - if so, draw this out, making differences clear
• do not only describe your role or what you did - you need to show how it made a difference
• do not use undefined acronyms or abbreviations that those assessing your application may not know (many scorers are lay members)
• do not repeat information from old applications - assessors compare new and previous applications and will check for repeated information, which will affect your score
• do not include any website addresses or other external links to additional information

Check your application form

Before you submit your application, make sure you:

• include solid evidence with dates and outcomes that show how you made services more efficient and productive, better for patients, colleagues or the NHS
• demonstrate how what you delivered improved the quality of patient care through your role as an enabler and leader of:
  • health provision
  • prevention
  • policy development and implementation
• give a clear chronology of dates and list any sources
• include validated data or reports

Other things you need to know

Personal statements

We publish the successful personal statements from award winners every year on GOV.UK. These can be used as examples to understand what has been deemed successful in the past. The most recent examples are in the personal statements from the 2022 awards round.

Transitional arrangements

Transitional arrangements are only applicable to applicants in England that have schedule 30 as part of their contract (see NHS Employers, consultant contract 2003).

In Wales, there are no transitional arrangements, however, award holders may still be eligible for pension protection and should contact their employer in the first instance for further information.

Change of circumstances

As part of your application, you need to detail whether you have retired and returned, or taken partial retirement and whether this has impacted your job plan.

You must let us know if your circumstances change during the application process, or after you have attained an award - this includes changes in your employment and all types of leave such as a sabbatical, secondment, maternity or paternity leave, other unpaid leave or starting to take any of your pension.

Appeals and complaints

If you do not think the assessment process has been done fairly, you may appeal on this ground. You cannot appeal because you disagree with the committees’ opinions or scores.

The main guidance sets out the complaints process, including how to complain to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

How we use your data

ACCIA collects data for the specific purpose of running the NCIA scheme and has its own privacy notice. For more information see the ACCIA personal information charter.

Information about how DHSC, the data controller for ACCIA, handles your information is also available under the DHSC privacy notice.