Hunter New England Local Health District Excellence Awards
The 2026 Excellence Awards celebrate the best of clinical excellence, quality, innovation, improvement, and outstanding achievements of staff members across our district.
These awards feed directly into the NSW Health Awards, with an ongoing focus to meet the strategies in Future Health, a roadmap on delivering health care services from 2022 to 2032 in NSW.
The awards support our aim of delivering:
- outcomes that matter most to patients and the community.
- a personalised and sustainable health system that invests in wellness and is digitally enabled.
Award categories
The award categories follow two streams:
- High-Value Health Care Awards (team awards) that recognise teams improving and innovating models of care through service delivery; and
- Achievement Awards (individual awards) acknowledge the outstanding performance and contribution of individual colleagues and volunteers.
Key dates
| Entries open | 2 February 2026 |
| Entries close | 27 April 2026 |
| Finalists announced | July 2026 |
| Winners announced | October 2026 |
Sponsor packages
We invite partners to join us in acknowledging the hard work, innovation, and dedication of our staff by sponsoring the 2026 awards.
Sponsorship packages are as follows.
Platinum $15,000 (+GST) | Gold $7,000 (+GST) | Silver $3,000 (+GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Major partner | Gold partner | Silver partner |
| Company logo included on all internal and external channels* in the lead-up and post award ceremony. 300 words to promote your organisation and link to your company page featured on our website. | Company logo included on all internal and external channels* in the lead-up and post award ceremony. 200 words to promote your organisation and link to your company page featured on our website. | Company logo included on all internal and external channels* in the lead-up and post award ceremony. 100 words to promote your organisation and link to your company page featured on our website. |
| Exclusive naming rights for 2 award categories. | Exclusive naming rights for 1 award category. | |
| 3 tickets to the awards ceremony. Company logo displayed. Opportunity to present the winning trophies for the categories you sponsored. Acknowledgement by the MC throughout the event. Opportunity to present an opening address. | 2 tickets to the awards ceremony. Company logo displayed. Opportunity to present the winning trophies for the categories you sponsored. Acknowledgement by the MC throughout the event. | Company logo displayed. Acknowledgement by the MC throughout the event. |
| Acknowledgement as platinum partner across all internal and external channels*, including on 2 videos showcasing the winning projects you sponsored, to share on your own channels. One-on-one audience with the Chief Executive, arranged post-event. | Acknowledgement as gold partner across all internal and external channels*, including on 1 video showcasing the winning project you sponsored, to share on your own channels. | Acknowledgement as a sponsor across all internal and external channels.* |
*Channels may include but are not limited to company website, employee intranet, broadcast
emails to 18,000 staff members and social media channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
If you’re interested in supporting our awards, please contact the Strategic Relations and Communications team.
2025 Team finalists and winners
Environmental Sustainability
- Winner - Risk Assess for Success Gloves Off/Gown Off – Intensive Care Services, John Hunter Hospital
- Choosing to Ride, Rather than Drive: Fleet e-bikes – Population Health
- Trash to Triumph – Work Health and Safety, Belmont Hospital
Excellence in Aboriginal Healthcare
- Winner - Bladder Control Issues – Speak up. No shame – Elders, Community and Hunter New England Local Health District services at Narrabri, Armidale and Uralla and Hunter Stroke Service
- Maroyi Booran - Peaceful Dream – Quality and Safety, Belmont Hospital
- Yarning for Health: Improving Attendance – ENT and Outpatients, John Hunter Hospital
Excellence in Multicultural Healthcare
- Winner - GP Honorary Medical Officers Refugee Health Program – Multicultural and Refugee Health Service
- Smoking Cessation Program – Armidale Refugee Health, Multicultural and Refugee Health Service
Excellence in the Provision of Mental Health Services
- Winner - Mind and Matter: Psychiatry in Chronic Disease – Supportive Care for Chronic Disease Team
- A hybrid Telehealth Model of DBT for Rural Areas – Centre for Psychotherapy, Mental Health
- Extreme Behaviours of Dementia Consultation Team – Older People’s Mental Health Service
Health Innovation
- Winner - Impact of the HNE Outpatient Telestroke Network – Acute Stroke Services, Neurology, John Hunter Hospital
- Knees Up: Maitland Rapid Knee Arthroplasty Project – Physiotherapy, Maitland Hospital
- Weekend Physiotherapy Redesign at Belmont Hospital – Physiotherapy, Belmont and John Hunter hospitals
Health Research
- Winner - IMAP: Improving Preeclampsia Care Outcomes – Maternity and Gynaecology, John Hunter Hospital
- Hyperacute Cardiac CT for Stroke Prevention – Acute Stroke Services/Neurology, John Hunter Hospital
- The HARMONY Trial – Drug and Alcohol Clinical Services
Keeping People Healthy
- Winner - Healthy Beginnings for Hunter New England Kids – Population Health
- ‘Information Your Way’ – Cancer Screening Education - Multicultural and Refugee Health Services
- Tailoring Immunisation Programmes – Population Health
Patient Safety First
- Winner - Timing of Planned Birth Multidisciplinary Meeting – Armidale Maternity Service
- Instrumental Swallow Assessment in Aged Care – Residential Care Speech Pathology
- Patient Care Essentials Excellence in Patient Care – Nursing and Midwifery
People and Culture
- Winner - Tamworth Welcome Experience - A Place to Call Home – Nursing and Midwifery, Tamworth Hospital
- Infection Connection – Nursing and Midwifery/Infection Prevention, Tamworth Hospital
- Rural Allied Health: Growing Future Professionals – Allied Health Rural Educator program
Transforming Patient Experience
- Winner - Sleep Studies at Home Project – Paediatric Sleep Unit, John Hunter Children's Hospital
- Heart Failure Virtual Care: Transforming Outcomes – Cardiology, John Hunter Hospital
- Prescribing Partnerships: ADHD Co-management Model – Children Young People and Families
2025 Individual finalists
Staff Member of the Year
- Winner - Prof. Aaron Sverdlov – Cardiology, John Hunter Hospital
- Evelyn Collins – Neurology, John Hunter Hospital
- Melissa Hart – Eating Disorders Service, Mental Health
Volunteer of the Year
- Winner - Corrine Lang – Manning and Wingham Hospitals
- Jennifer Coffee – Maitland Hospital
- Danielle Kennedy – Quality and Safety Committee, John Hunter Hospital
External awards
These awards focus on quality improvement, research and partnerships. If you would like to add any relevant awards to this list, email HNELHD-ResearchOffice@health.nsw.gov.au