New health professional awards launched

To celebrate the outstanding work carried out by Macmillan professionals, Macmillan Cancer Support launched the Macmillan Excellence Awards on the 10 and 11 November 2011 at The Changing Story of Cancer event in London. There are over 5,000 Macmillan health and social care professionals across the UK, many who are specialists in their area of cancer care and leaders in their field.

Macmillan professionals can be nominated in any one of the following four categories:

1. Service Improvement Excellence Award (individual)
   Macmillan professionals who have achieved definable improvements to the services offered to people affected by cancer.
2. Innovation Excellence Award (individual)
   Macmillan professionals who have introduced a new approach to service delivery which has impacted positively on one or more of: quality, productivity, outcomes and/or patient/carer experience.
3. Partnership Excellence Award (individual)
   Macmillan professionals who have brought together stakeholder groups to work in partnership to improve the experiences and outcomes of people affected by cancer.
4. Team Excellence Award (team)
   High performing teams whose development has resulted in an exceptionally integrated, high quality and efficient service. A team can be any group of people who work together to provide services but must include at least one Macmillan professional.

Macmillan Excellence Award winners will be invited to a special ceremony where individual winners receive a certificate and £100 and the team a plaque and £500.

The individual winners also have the chance to be made a Macmillan Fellow which allows them access to a £10,000 grant and attend special events.

Jenny Ritchie-Campbell, Director of Cancer Services Innovation at Macmillan Cancer Support says:

'This is the first year we’re running the Macmillan Excellence Awards and we are excited to have the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the exceptional contribution to cancer services made by Macmillan professionals in these areas. The award categories have been carefully selected as being important in improving the lives of people living with cancer.

'The health and social care environment is highly demanding, and in the current climate of change and financial constraint, is particularly challenging for professionals. If you know of anyone whose excellence in the categories above deserves to be recognised, we’d love to hear about them.'

To nominate* a Macmillan health professional you know who makes a difference to people affected by cancer visit www.macmillan.org.uk/learnzone|.

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For further information, please contact:

Sarah Ross, Senior Media & PR Officer
020 7840 4722 (out of hours 07801 307 068)

Notes to editors:

*The application pack will be going live on Monday 14th November. The application deadline is Friday 30th March 2012.

About Macmillan Cancer Support:

Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer, providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support. Working alongside people affected by cancer, Macmillan works to improve cancer care. More than one in three of us get cancer. Two million of us are living with it. If you are affected by cancer Macmillan can help.|