Nominations are now open for the 2021 Digital Health Awards which celebrate the digital achievements of NHS IT leaders.

The Digital Health Awards, which were put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic, return as part of the Digital Health Autumn Leadership Summit with the winners announced at the Summit networking dinner on October 7.

For the first time, the awards will have a category to recognise the digital leadership and vision of NHS CEOs. Crucially, the Digital Health Awards are the only awards voted for by NHS IT leaders, with all 6,500 members of Digital Health Networks invited to vote online to select the winners.

Network members will be asked to vote for the CCIO, CIO and CNIO of the Year, with the judging panel selecting Future Digital Leader of the Year and the new category of Digital NHS CEO of the Year.

The five award categories are:

• CCIO of the Year
• CIO of the Year
• CNIO of the Year
• Future Digital Leader of the Year
• Digital NHS CEO of the Year

Jon Hoeksma, CEO of Digital Health, said: “We hope the return of the Digital Health Awards will be an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the many remarkable achievements of NHS IT leaders over a period in which we have seen dramatic acceleration of digital in the UK healthcare.”

He added: “We’ve added the new NHS CEO category, because Board leadership on digital has never been more important for achieving digital transformation at scale, enabling NHS recovery and securing the digital gains of the pandemic.”

Entrants must be currently working in an NHS or private healthcare provider environment within the UK. Entries can either be submitted by individuals themselves, or by nomination from a colleague.

To put forward a nomination, simply fill out this online nomination form. Entries close at 5pm on August 27.

To help with your nomination – we have put together some tips:

Follow the judging criteria for that category – make sure the entry is relevant for the award category, provide relevant information as asked and don’t exceed the word limit.

Back it up– use facts, figures, data, case studies and examples to back up your assertions. This will help the judges and voters assess your claims and convince them as to why you are the best candidate for the award. Feel free to send us links and URLs of supplementary documents, web pages and videos.

Clarity of thought and writing – don’t write vague, boring and jargon-laden essays. Tell us why you deserve to win using accurate, concise and informative language. The golden rule is to be clear and engaging. Also, make sure you’ve spelled the names and organisations correctly – typos can be confusing and misleading.

Humble bragging – and finally, don’t be shy to blow your own trumpet. Tell us about your outstanding work and why you deserve to win that award. Did you go above and beyond your role; what were the challenges; how did you overcome them; did you have any doubts? We want to hear about the journey as well.

The brand-new in-person Autumn Leadership Summit in October offers local and national digital leaders across the NHS the chance to connect as they plan how digital will support NHS recovery.

Taking place on 7-8 October at Park Regis Birmingham, the event is open to those either working in the NHS, public or charitable sectors.

Don’t miss out and register today.