The North West Coast Research and Innovation Showcase 2026 celebrates the people, partnerships and projects that are driving meaningful improvements in health and care across our region.
Delivered in partnership by Health Innovation North West Coast and the Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast, the showcase recognises outstanding achievements in research, innovation and collaboration that are improving outcomes for patients, staff and communities.
Whether you are leading a pioneering project, working collaboratively to tackle health challenges, supporting sustainable research practices, or at the beginning of your research journey, we encourage you to share your achievements and gain recognition for the impact you are making.
Explore the award categories below and submit your application for the category that best reflects your work. This is an opportunity to celebrate success, showcase innovation, and inspire others across the North West Coast.
To submit an application, click Apply Now beneath the relevant award category.
Nomination forms must be completed and submitted through the online application form used for all awards by 5pm on Wednesday 16 September 2026. Late applications will not be accepted.
For detailed information on eligibility, judging criteria and the application process, click the button below.
Award Categories
Industry Collaboration
There has never been a more crucial time to recognise the importance of effective relationships and collaborations between the NHS, academia, industry and wider partners. This award highlights outstanding collaborations that accelerate safe and effective innovation, improve patient and staff care, support prevention and productivity, and contribute to better health outcomes and inclusive economic growth.
The industry collaboration should clearly support the delivery of NHS priorities, including care closer to home, prevention, digital transformation, better use of NHS resources, faster research and innovation adoption, and the ability to translate and spread innovation at pace.
Applicants should be able to demonstrate the benefits and effectiveness of the collaboration and how it is providing an innovative solution(s) to deliver better care than NHS services alone. Provide sufficient evidence that the innovation has the ability to be scaled up and is agile enough to adapt to the changing requirements of the NHS.
This category will be of particular interest to companies already collaborating with the NHS, as well as innovators with mature solutions that are ready to partner with health and care organisations to generate evidence, support adoption and scale impact.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- The context of the collaboration and why it was initially formed.
- The impact of the challenge and examples of how the partnership and innovation has evolved.
- Demonstrated evidence of the impact and benefits resulting from the collaboration. How was this measured and what steps were put in place to achieve them.
- Examples of how the innovation can be scaled, adopted and sustained across the NHS, including any evidence of spread already achieved and the conditions needed for wider implementation.
- How well the collaboration has adapted to the complex and changing healthcare environment.
Innovation in Workforce Culture
Creating an environment where innovation can thrive is key to any successful organisation. A culture where good ideas are actively encouraged across a diverse workplace community allows health and social care innovation to flourish, builds readiness for change and supports better outcomes for patients, communities and staff.
A culture for innovation is where diverse voices come together and there are opportunities for ideas to be discovered, tested and implemented. Staff, patients, carers and partners should be actively engaged and provided with support, time and feedback to develop and evaluate innovative ways of doing things.
The work could include:-
- The introduction of new technology or digital tools.
- Working more collaboratively across organisational boundaries.
- Promoting flexibility or agile working.
- Supporting prevention and earlier intervention.
- Another innovative approach to improving the wellbeing, capability and development of staff.
This award will be presented to a team or organisation that has developed an approach to innovation through the development of a positive and effective workplace culture that has resulted in real changes that have benefitted patients as well as healthcare staff.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- Person-centred and inclusive values drive your team or organisation’s culture of innovation and are reflected in your strategy and approach.
- Organisational innovation strategy and implementation plans demonstrate evidence-based innovation culture principles.
- People in your team or organisation are supported to take forward good ideas for innovative and collaborative ways of working.
- Rewards and incentives for people and teams to innovate actively and collaboratively are clear and meaningful.
- Demonstrated evidence of impact and benefit resulting from strategic innovation culture change.
Patient Safety and Care Improvement
This award recognises initiatives that have made a real difference to patient safety and care improvement in 2025/26.
Applicants should be able to clearly demonstrate how their approach to tackle a problem or system challenge was developed and provide evidence of how the initiative has involved patients, public, colleagues or other stakeholders.
The concept could be locally created, adapted from an existing approach, or adopted from a regional or national initiative.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- Clear evidence of positive benefits for patients, staff or services, including any impact on access, experience, outcomes, safety, health inequalities, productivity or other additional and unforeseen benefits.
- Involvement of patients and staff and other relevant stakeholders in developing and refining the innovation and/or initiative.
- The long-term ambition for the project, including how it supports prevention, earlier intervention, care closer to home or digital transformation, and how it could be applied more widely within your organisation and across other health and care settings.
- Examples of success and improvements since the initiative was developed.
- Has it already achieved the original aim and to what extent.
Research Capacity Building
An award to recognise the best examples of research capacity building, which has improved or enhanced the ability of individuals and/or institutions to conduct, implement and sustain high-quality research within the NHS, Local Authorities and third sector.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- Examples include approaches to research capacity building such as Individual (e.g. training and scholarships), Intra-organisational (developing the capacity of research departments to fund, manage and sustain themselves) and Inter-organisational (changing the rules of the game nationally or regionally through collaboration)
- Initiatives which have contributed towards developing a culture of capacity building for applied health research and implementation are particularly encouraged
- Recognising approaches towards evaluating the process, outcomes, and impacts of capacity building activities
- Particular consideration will be given to clear evidence of how capacity building has improved outcomes for both patients and the public through improving the quality, delivery and efficiency of health and care services, and / or addressing health inequalities.
Research Student of the Year
This award is aimed at an individual who has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to their research.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- How does this student stand out from their peers?
- How have they gone above and beyond what is expected, and set themselves apart from the crowd while performing their research?
- What evidence can you show that this student is truly excellent?
- What has been their personal achievement, rather than merely conducting their research? (e.g. engaging and presenting to audiences, implementing findings to maximise impact or excellence in engaging with peers, participants or stakeholders.)
- Contribution to their local university, organisation or wider community
- Inspirational nature of their commitment to research / organisational initiative
- Their achievement does not need to relate to research already published
Sustainability
The impact we have on the environment has never been under greater scrutiny.
This category aligns with the NHS 10 Year Plan by recognising innovation that improves productivity, prevention, patient experience and value while supporting a more sustainable health and care system. It encourages scalable solutions, partnerships with industry and evidence of adoption in real-world settings.
The award will reward work that delivers environmental, operational and patient benefits, with clear evidence that learning can be shared and spread across the region.
Recognition will be given to an individual or team whose work has improved services, departments, pathways or patient experience while reducing environmental impact, improving resource use and supporting a more sustainable health and care system.
Your submission should be able to demonstrate some of the following:
- How you identified the environmental, service or system issue – describe the challenge faced and the baseline position you were seeking to improve.
- Your approach/strategy.
- The impact of the transformation, including evidence of environmental benefit, improved productivity, cost or resource efficiency, and staff, patient or public experience.
- Lessons learned and critical success factors.
- How you have shared the lessons learned.
- How the work could be adopted, adapted or scaled across other teams, services, pathways or partner organisations.
Tackling Health Inequalities
This award recognises work that tackles health inequalities across the North West Coast by improving access, experience or outcomes for people and communities who experience the greatest barriers to health and care.
We want to hear about achievements in understanding and assessing the well-being of people across the region; and innovative ways of working to address inequalities.
This category aligns with the NHS 10 Year Plan by recognising work that shifts care closer to communities, improves prevention and tackles unwarranted variation in access, experience and outcomes. The award also values evidence-led innovation, research and partnerships that can be adopted and spread.
Applicant should highlight inclusive innovation that responds to local population need, reduces inequalities across the region and demonstrates measurable benefit for patients, communities and services.
Nominees may have delivered or be conducting validated research that raises awareness of a key issue, informs action or contributes to a reduction in health inequalities. They may also have developed a novel approach that brings local communities, voluntary sector partners, public services and industry together to address local needs.
Your submission should be able to demonstrate some of the following:
- Context for the nomination – why the project/research was initiated.
- Describe the project/research and steps taken.
- Involvement of local communities, patients, carers or underserved groups in identifying needs, shaping the approach and reviewing outcomes.
- Impact of project/research to date, including evidence of improved access, experience, outcomes or reduced variation for the population group affected.
- Parity of esteem addressing both physical health and mental health.
- Potential for adoption, spread or scaling across other communities, pathways or partner organisations.
The Ruth Young Award for Public Involvement in Research Implementation
This award is for examples of research initiatives or partner collaborations that have made an impact by improving service delivery or providing evidence to change practice.
Entries must demonstrate how public involvement was built-in from idea conception to implementation.
The award will be judged on the following criteria:
- Approaches adopted to embed patient and / or public involvement throughout the initiative
- How the initiative was developed and tackled a specific problem or subject
- Demonstrate evidence of collaboration with stakeholders and maintaining engagement
- Tell us about the strategy to implement research findings or approach to changing services and the role public involvement played in achieving the project’s mission
- What is the potential legacy of the initiative now it has been implemented?
- How has the benefit of public involvement been shared among other providers in the same sector so wider learning can take place?