Spring has properly sprung at PEN HQ and with just over a month to go until the PEN Awards 2026 submission deadline, our inbox is starting to look gloriously chaotic in the best possible way.
Across the country, collegaues are gathering evidence, polishing submissions, digging out patient feedback quotes they’d forgotten about, and gently debating whether “final_v7_REAL” is actually the final version. It can all only mean one thing; PEN Awards entry season is here.
Every year, we’re blown away by the projects, partnerships and people making healthcare experiences better.
It really is a fantastic opportunity to take a moment to stop and celebrate the work your team has poured heart, energy and determination into for your patients.
So whether you’re halfway through an entry, thinking “we probably won’t win anything” (you might 👀), or rallying colleagues around a last-minute submission sprint fuelled by biscuits and brews, this is your sign to go for it.
We can’t wait to read what you’ve been working on and if you have any questions at all, please email awards@picker.org
Best wishes,
The PEN Team
AWARENESS DAYS
Some dates for your diary coming up that you may want to make a note of:
June 2026
1st - 7th June - Volunteers Week
7th June - National Cancer Survivors Day
8th - 14th June - Carers Week (UK)
14th June - World Blood Donor Day
15th - 21st June - Loneliness Awareness Week
15th June - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
19th June - World Sickle Cell Day
28th June - PEN 2026 Submissions Close
Entire June - Pride Month
July 2026
6th to 12th July - Alcohol Awareness Week
17th July - Disability Awareness Day
24th July - Samaritans Day
28th July - World Hepatitis Day
Entire July - Good Care Month (celebrating social care workers across the UK) & National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
CASE STUDY
For this month's Case Study, we thought we would help highlight National Carers Week (W/C 8th June) and so are showcasing the work of Bedford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and their project The Carers Lounge.
This project was the winner of the Supporting for Caregivers, Friends and Family award way back in 2015 but the project philosophy still remains incredibly relevant today.
The Picker Experience Network Awards are the first and only awards programme to recognise best practice in patient experience across all facets of health and social care in the UK and beyond.
They celebrate projects, teams, individuals, and initiatives that have made exceptional contributions to care, engagement, service delivery, and wellbeing from the perspective of patients, carers, families, and staff.
WE ARE NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!
Sun 28th June – Submissions close
Weds 29th July – Shortlisted finalists announced
Thursday 1st Oct – Live event in Birmingham
We have designed our categories to reflect the wide ranging work across health and social care to improve the experience. From large organisation-wide strategic initiatives to local more operational activities, from commissioning the experience to providing the experience, from public engagement programmes to specific targeted action, there will be a category for your work.
Each year the categories are revised and refreshed to ensure they are still relevant and this year we have 21 to choose from so there truly is a good fit for everyone!
To further highlight the importance of the inclusion of patient safety alongside person centred care and patient experience, we are proud to be partnering with Patient Safety Learning to launch a brand new category this year; Patient Involvement in Patient Safety. This category recognises patients who have worked with healthcare organisations to drive meaningful safety improvements.
Take a look at our full list of 2026 categories as follows:
Partnership Working - Recognises projects that work in genuine partnership with patients, carers, communities or other organisations.
Leadership and Governance for Experience Excellence - Recognises leadership and Governance that embeds experience as a strategic priority.
Staff Experience and Wellbeing - Celebrates initiatives improving staff engagement, experience and wellbeing to enhance care quality.
Equity in Experience - Celebrates initiatives addressing inequalities in experience and access and encourage inclusion.
From Insight to Impact - Recognises organisations that listen, learn and act on feedback using insight.
Developing the Capability for Person Centred Care - Recognises programmes building skills and capability for person centred care for the future (including students and future workforce).
Commissioning for Better Experience of Care - Recognises commissioning approaches that shape and improve the experience of care.
Excellence in Personalised Care - Celebrates personalised, compassionate and respectful care.
Joined-Up Care Experience - Celebrates joined-up improvements across multiple services or stages of care including improving experience across pathways of care and wider system collaboration.
Environment of Care - Recognises environments that enhance dignity, comfort and respect, and the roles of the physical and sensory environment.
Digital and Technology Innovation for Experience - Celebrates digital and other technology that improves experience while maintaining trust and safety. Includes data protection and AI ethics.
Support Operations Excellence in Improving Experience - Celebrates operational teams enabling safe and reliable care experience.
Independent Excellence in Experience of Care - Celebrates experience improvement within the independent or private sector.
International Excellence in Experience of Care - Celebrates outstanding experience improvement outside the UK.
Emerging Good Practice - Recognises promising early-stage initiatives improving experience.
Long Term Improvement in Experience of Care - Recognises initiatives demonstrating long-term improvement.
Teams Making a Difference to Experience - Recognises teams delivering excellent care experience.
PEN DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award (in partnership with The DAISY Foundation) - Recognises exceptional leadership or contribution.
Patient, Volunteer or Community Recognition* - Recognises individuals improving experience through sharing their lived experience.
Outstanding Contribution to Volunteering* - Recognises exceptional volunteering improving care experience.
Patient Involvement in Patient Safety* (in partnership with Patient Safety Learning) - Recognises patients who have worked with healthcare organisations to drive meaningful safety improvements.
*Students, Patients and Volunteers are not charged for entering.
Please note you can enter a project or initiative that has been submitted in a previous year, as long as it has progressed and subsequently you have new results to show. We love to hear how a story has developed and it can be really inspiring documenting a journey from humble beginnings to its successful completion, or ongoing.
To help you out with your submissions this year, we asked some of our PEN awards judges to share their top tips on what they look for in a successful submission, their do's and don't when writing your entry and why they feel the PEN Awards are important for the health and care sector.
Take a watch below for some inspiration and guidance!
PICKER & PARTNER EVENTS
Putting Compassion at the Centre: For Patients, Communities and Ourselves BMA’s Patient Liaison Group (PLG) Virtual Symposium
5th June VIRTUAL, ONLINE
Save the date for BMA PLG’s annual symposium on Friday 5 June 2026, 9:30 – 13:00.
How do we keep care truly compassionate, for every patient, in pressured services and an increasingly digitalised health system? This online symposium will examine what compassionate care looks like in practice, whether digital and AI technologies strengthen or undermine compassionate care, and what specific compassion and support may be needed for different marginalised communities. We’ll also consider self-care and personal compassion, recognising that sustaining compassion matters for patients, communities and ourselves.
More detailed information, the agenda and the registration link will follow.
BMA PLG always welcomes ideas and views from delegates in advance of the symposium to help guide activity on the day. Please do share your priorities with us at info.plg@bma.org.uk
If you know of any colleagues that may be interested in this year’s symposium, please ask them to contact our conference unit at confunit@bma.org.uk and we will ensure further information is provided.
Action for radical change in NHS, public services and VCSE - presented by Five Giants Foundation, People’s Powerhouse, Wellbeing Enterprises
We know the change that is needed. A profound shift from a system that does things to people to one that does things with them. We know this because change is happening: the public, health, voluntary and community sector working differently - and we see the positive outcomes. Yet doing to is deeply embedded. We all want things to change but somehow the system resists and carries on with business as usual. And so the problems just get worse.
The DoWith Assembly is a national grassroots gathering for anyone who wants to be part of a movement for radical and urgent transformation across the whole system, not just in pockets. Not a standard conference with keynote speakers and panels, the content will be shaped on the day by everyone who attends. The themes we could explore include getting a DoWith Charter launched, setting up local DoWith groups, creating a strong online presence, holding DoWith bootcamps. But ultimately the agenda is in your hands! So, come ready to connect, create and collaborate on making DoWith a reality here and now.
There is no entrance fee for the DoWith Assembly and a free lunch will be provided. We expect to meet our limit for the number of attendees rapidly, so register now!
Power to the People? The Ten year Plan, One Year On.
Picker Institute and The Patients Association Webinar
1st July, 11:00 VIRTUAL, ONLINE, FREE
Join us and The Patients Association on Wednesday 1st July (11:00-12:00, Zoom) for an insightful discussion exploring progress on the Ten Year Plan’s ambition to put patients at the heart of care.
Chaired by Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan, an NHS doctor and author, this webinar brings together leading voices from across the health sector to reflect on what has been achieved so far, and what still needs to happen to deliver “power to the people.”
Panellists Rachel Power (The Patients Association), Chris Graham (Picker), and Cheryl Tackie (Chair of NHS England’s National Cancer Programme’s Patient Partner Voice Forum, and a former keynote speaker and judge at the Picker Experience Network Awards) will share their perspectives on strengthening patient voice, expanding choice, and embedding person centred care across the system.
The session will examine key commitments from the Ten Year Plan, including the rollout of patient-reported outcome and experience measures, the use of the NHS App to gather and analyse feedback, and new approaches such as ‘Patient Power Payments’. Attendees will gain insights into the opportunities and challenges of implementation, as well as examples of best practice in patient engagement.
This session will be valuable for policymakers, NHS leaders, patient experience professionals, and anyone interested in understanding how to turn the Ten Year Plan’s ambitions into change for patients.
This National Summit focuses on supporting staff to deliver good complaint handling and implementing and monitoring adherence to the PHSO National NHS Complaint Standards which are now being used and embedded across the NHS. Through national updates, practical case studies and in depth expert sessions the conference aims to improve the effectiveness of complaints handling within your service, and ensure that complaints are welcomed and lead to change and improvements in patient care.
We are pleased to offer a 20% discount with code hcuk20pen to newsletter readers.
Today the Patients Association has published its latest Patient Experience report, highlighting how people are experiencing care across the NHS.
The findings paint a clear picture: despite political momentum around NHS reform, the day-to-day reality for patients has not improved. From 807 patients responding about their health over the past six months:
69% said their priorities, goals and preferences were not discussed in their care
Only 41% felt there was genuine partnership in decision-making
52% reported that their care was not well coordinated
The report reflects ongoing challenges around access, use of technology, and delays, but also highlights the real impact on patients, from spending time chasing appointments to repeatedly explaining their situation to different professionals.
Using Animation as a Medium to Help Clinicians Understand the Secondary Healthcare Experiences of Prisoners Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership(in partnership with UCL Collaborative Centre for Inclusion Health)
Integration & Continuity of Care, Using Insight for Improvement (Access) - Winner PEN 2019
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