The rapid expansion of Community Diagnostic Centres has brought tests and scans closer to patients than ever before, but diagnostic waiting lists remain stubbornly high, and workforce shortages continue to limit what that new capacity can deliver. Expanding diagnostic capacity is critical to improving elective and urgent care pathways across the NHS. As the NHS undergoes significant structural reform, trusts and diagnostic networks must find new ways to improve efficiency, reduce delays, and better patient access. Strengthening collaboration across the system, improving workforce models, and streamlining processes are key to delivering sustainable change.
This award recognises NHS teams that have successfully modernised diagnostic services, whether by improving patient pathways, redesigning workflows, or strengthening collaboration across trusts and networks. Judges will be looking for projects with a clear vision for improvement, backed by measurable success in reducing waiting times, increasing capacity, and enhancing service delivery. Entries should provide evidence of how these improvements have directly benefited patient care and staff experience.
Winning projects will demonstrate how changes have been sustained and scaled, either within a trust or across a wider NHS system. Strong submissions will highlight cross-organisational collaboration, including partnerships within the NHS, and show how best practice has been shared to drive system-wide improvements.
Eligibility
All providers of NHS services across acute, mental health, primary and community care are welcome to enter. Judges particularly welcome NHS-led collaborations across multiple system partners. Solution providers helping the NHS and health sector organisations are invited to enter the HSJ Partnership Awards, which recognise collaboration with the private sector.