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The Innovator in Care Award 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 2025 Award is now open for nominations! The winners will be announced at the Hospice UK National Conference in Liverpool in November.

About this award

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This award celebrates individuals that have made innovative approaches to care. This could be developing a new concept, finding new ways to identify people who can benefit from hospice and palliative care, or approaching a challenging care issue.

When judging this award, particular value will be placed on innovations which have improved one or more of the following:

  • Access to care
  • treatment of troublesome symptoms
  • resolution of psychosocial and spiritual distress
  • The opportunities for people to receive care in-line with cultural, religious, social or other preferences
  • the opportunities for people to receive care in the place of their choice
  • bereavement outcomes
  • engagement of users in the planning, organisation and evaluation of services.

If someone in your hospice has demonstrated measurable benefit to service users or an an innovation be applied to other hospice and palliative care organisations, nominate them for this award.

What the judges are looking for

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Read our submission criteria and general guidance. The judges would like to know:

How original was the innovation?

  • Was it a new concept or a variation of an existing idea?
  • Was it developed independently or in cooperation with others?
  • Did the individual improve any of the areas listed in the above bullet points?

What was the impact of the innovation?

  • Was there a measurable benefit to users?
  • Could elements of the project be applied to other parts of the organisation or care processes?

Applicability

  • Can this innovation be applied to other hospice and palliative care organisations?
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Enter now

To nominate someone for the 2025 award, please complete our short online form.

The deadline for submitting entries and nominations is 5pm on Monday 8 September 2025. 

The winners will be announced at our National Conference in Liverpool from 25-27 November 2025.

Previous winners

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Find out more about the previous winners of this award, which was formerly named 'The Innovation in Care Award'.

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Jennifer Hadley, Garden House Hospice Care, is the winner of the Innovator in Care Award 2024 - at the Hospice UK Awards

2024 Winner: Jennifer Hadley, Garden House Hospice Care

The panel were impressed by Jennifer’s work 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 panel felt this was a replicable model: 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.

Read more about the frailty service
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The winner of the 2023 Innovator in Care Award was Dr Christine Mott, Acorns Hospices

2023 Winner: Dr Christine Mott, Acorns Hospices

After caring for a young person at end of life who was experiencing Diabetes Mellitus, Christine and her team at the hospice were unable to locate a paediatric guideline. So, they brought together a group of organisations and endocrinologists from the UK and internationally to write one. Using the new Managing Diabetes Mellitus in Paediatric Palliative Care guideline, with its clear management recommendations, children and young people may be able to avoid the unpleasant symptoms and side effects of the medications, and to be supported in considering care options with palliative care staff who feel confident in providing these.

The team would like to dedicate this award to the memory of Lucy Watson who inspired this work.

Find out more about Acorns Hospice
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Winners of the 2022 Innovation in Care Award were Compton Care

2022 Winners: Compton Care

The judges were delighted to recommend Compton Care for this Innovation project award, which identified a need for a ‘Rapid Response’ community service to manage crises and prevent unnecessary acute admissions. With their inpatient service’s response to Covid, patients’ and families’ focus for care at home remained constant, requiring support day and night - this required a team to respond to changing clinical pictures.

They aimed to make community resources more responsive, assessing and managing current and urgent needs, in addition to an intervention for fixed caseloads. 

Find out more about Compton Care
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St Oswald’s Hospice Lymphodema Service were the 2021 winners of the Hospice UK Innovation in Care Award

2021 Winners: St Oswald's Hospice Lymphoedema Service

The pandemic accelerated innovation in care across the whole of the hospice sector, and St Oswald’s Hospice Lymphodema Service really stood out.

In March 2020, the St Oswald’s Lymphodema Service had to quickly pivot to provide much more domiciliary based care. To deliver this service, the hospice had to introduce a new volunteer role and recruit additional support. This not only gave a learning opportunity to these new and often younger volunteers, it gave patients the opportunity to share their stories - offering a positive impact on the potential next generation of health care workers and giving them an insight into hospice care.

Find out more about St Oswald's Hospice