Physicians and all healthcare professionals have had a difficult year full of unprecedented challenges. The unique and innovative solutions to overcome these challenges have resulted in an incredibly competitive year for the Excellence in Patient Care Awards (EPCA). If you entered this year and have not been shortlisted, please don't be disheartened. Entries will open for EPCA 2022 later this year and we've love you to enter.

We know each of our members and fellows is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic acutely. So it's more important than ever that we recognise and celebrate your life-changing, life-saving work and research. Following a year that has been tough, stressful and upsetting, we'd like to focus on something joyful. You can follow the celebrations using the hashtag: #EPCA2021.

Making it on to the shortlist is an honour in itself, and those receiving that honour are...

Digital award

This award recognises and rewards the use of new or existing technologies or digitally driven projects that have contributed to significant improvements in patient care or health outcomes.

• The Buku Medicine app – a pocket reference supporting efficient, effective care – Buku Medicine team
• Digital pathways for pre-operative consent – Cardiology Pre-assessment Improvement team, Royal Brompton Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
• Living with COVID recovery: a digital solution to optimising after-COVID care – Barts Health After-COVID Recovery team
• Utilizing smart phone application in managing arthritis: be SMART – Digital Innovators, Healing Touch City Clinic, Fortis Hospital, Punjabi University and Chitkara University

Excellence in times of crisis award

Our new category for 2021, this award recognises and rewards dedication to healthcare during times of exceptional crisis or an emergency incident.

• Adaptation of a respiratory service to provide continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, outside of a critical care setting, in a district general hospital – Croydon University Hospital (CUH) respiratory, nursing and critical care outreach teams
• Implantable cardiac device drive-up clinic – Wythenshawe Hospital
• Supporting patients and families during the COVID-19 pandemic – Whiston Hospital Intensive Care Family Liaison Service
• Post-COVID service – University College London Hospital

Innovation award

This award rewards projects that have used innovative new techniques or ideas that have contributed to significant improvements in patient care or health outcomes.

• Clinical impact of molecular point-of-care testing for suspected COVID-19 in hospital – CoV-19POC trial team, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
• COVID protect – NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group
• Sheffield minimally invasive technology in endoscopy (SMITE) – Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• WINGS (Wales Infants' and childreN's Genome Service) development, implementation and service provision

International award

This award recognises and rewards projects that have been delivered outside the UK and have contributed to significant improvements in patient care and health outcomes in a particular country or region.

• Gastroenterology online – GEO platform informing patient decision making – Professor Tony Rahman, Ann Vandeleur and team gastro – The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland
• Kidney transplantation and dialysis in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic – Professor Adrian Constantin Covic, Spitalul Clinic CI Parhon, Romania
• Meroe Medical and Education Camp, Sudan – Dr Waiel A Bashari and Dr Ahmed Osman, Cambridge University Hospital
• Prevalence and determinants of diabetes mellitus in high altitude: A cross sectional study in mountainous region of Nepal – : Dr Kiran Prasad Acharya, Dr Dipankar Prajapati, Dr Kunjang Sherpa, Dr Aarjan Khanal, Dr Pratima Poudel, Dr Anish Hirachan, Dr Amrit Bogati, Dr Chandra Mani Adhikari, Dr Bharosa Sharma, Dr Dilasha Karki, Dr Monica Yadav, Santosh Dhakal, Anita Dewan, Rosy Shakya, Binita Tamrakar, Dr Urmila Shakya

Medical education and training award

This award rewards projects involving the development of medical education and training programmes, services or structures that have improved the quality of patient care delivered, whether on a local or wider scale.

• Clinical and service excellence and benchmarks in patient care, research, education and social responsibility through a compassionate and motivated team – Aster Medcity, Kochi, Kerala, India
• The frailty journey – from early recognition to end of life: a multidisciplinary educational programme – The Frailty Journey team, Barnet Hospital, Royal Free London
• Introducing interim foundation year 1 doctors as a response to supplement NHS workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic – Health Education England Undergraduate Directorate and UK Foundation Programme Office
• Rapid provision of medical education in the time of COVID-19 – Infectious Diseases Department and colleagues, at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Person-centred care award

This award recognises projects that have placed patients’ needs, views and involvement at their heart, demonstrating a truly patient-centred approach to improving care.

• Delivery of patient-centred care in hepatitis C – Leicester Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Network team, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
• London adult epidermolysis bullosa service – Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Adult Epidermolysis Bullosa team
• A project to improve inclusivity of older LGBTQ+ patients in a secondary care geriatric medicine service – Opening the Door, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Transformation of the neuroendocrine cancer service for south Wales through co-production and patient-reported outcome measures – South Wales Neuroendocrine Cancer team

Quality improvement award

This award celebrates projects that have implemented systematic change in order to achieve a measurable improvement in the quality of healthcare services, patient care or health outcomes.

• Acute Kidney Injury Programme – Acute Kidney Injury team, Southend University Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
• 'Building castles from the rubble' – transforming and sustaining a reliable stroke care processes with VMI quality improvement methodology – Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust stroke team
• Norwich inpatient diabetes service (NIPDS): Supporting staff, empowering patients, preventing glycaemic harms – Norwich Inpatient Diabetes Service team, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Use of a discharge lounge to facilitate ambulatory CT guided percutaneous lung biopsies for suspected lung cancer – a cost-effective pathway with high patient satisfaction – Lung cancer team Glenfield Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Research award

This award rewards original research that has contributed to, or has the potential to contribute to, significant improvements in health outcomes or the quality of patient care.

• Delineating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer services and excess deaths in people with cancer: implications for cancer patient care and cancer policy – DATA-CAN and the UCL Institute of Health Informatics
• Preceptorship scheme for newly qualified physician associates working in general practice in Sheffield – Mrs Julie Hoskin, RGN, MA, PGDip Healthcare Education, and Miss Ria Agarwal, PA-R, FHEA, PGCert Medical Education

Welfare and wellbeing award

This award celebrates teams that have prioritised team and individual welfare in the form of flexible working, mindfulness and wellbeing or team-building activities to ensure staff are working at their best and continue to treat patients at the best of their ability.

• ArT1st: Celebrating the talents of the type-1 diabetes community during the COVID-19 pandemic – The ArT1st team
• The Postgraduate Medical Education Centre’s role in supporting NHS staff – Postgraduate Medical Education Team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

Contribution to the profession award

This award is given to an RCP member or fellow at any stage of their medical career who has demonstrated excellence in their professional life so far.

• Professor Javed Akram FRCP
• Dr Indira Menon FRCP
• Dr Peter Henry Scanlon FRCP

Let's celebrate this May

It's time for us to celebrate. After the success of last year's digital celebration, we're excited to once again host a virtual ceremony, taking place this year on 26 May. Follow our social media channels, including Twitter and Instagram, to find out about this year's winners and get involved using the hashtag: #EPCA2021.

A sincere thank you to our judges

The outstanding difficulties of this past year have impacted every person within the healthcare sector. We want to show our gratitude to our wonderful judges who've, despite enormous clinical workloads and other research, training and educational commitments, have managed to give their time and judge this year's entries. Thank you – without your help and support EPCA 2021 would not be possible.