Clinical Excellence Awards in England and Wales

Applications for the 2011 Round

Work has commenced on the 2011 Clinical Excellence Awards round. The date for final online submission to ACCEA in England is 5pm on Friday 10 December 2010.

Specialist Societies such as the British Pain Society are asked to submit a ranked list of candidates to ACCEA by the same date along with a citation for each candidate. The closing date for electronic submission of forms to the BPS is Friday 24 September 2010. Please DO NOT send paper copies. Medical Colleges and other specialist societies will have separate closing dates. The closing date for the Royal College of Anaesthetists is Wednesday 1 September 2010. The Faculty of Pain Medicine takes part in the RCoA process and will not be submitting a separate list so please DO NOT send forms to the Faculty. The BPS Sifting Committee will meet in mid October 2010 after all the applications have been scored using the uniform ACCEA scoring system.

Candidates must submit their own online forms to ACCEA by the closing date in December. The forms must have been signed off by your Trust. The BPS will only submit a ranked list along with a citation for each candidate. You are strongly advised to enter your College process as well because College support, if obtained, is very influential.

Welsh candidates should submit their forms to the BPS. They will be ranked along with all the candidates from England and Wales and the BPS will provide a citation to the separate Welsh Secretariat. Welsh candidates must submit their final online forms to the Welsh Secretariat by the same closing date of 5pm on Friday 10 December 2010. Candidates from Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate arrangements.

ACCEA expects the results of the current (2010) round to be published by the end of July 2010. If this happens it will certainly save a lot of unnecessary effort. ACCEA is expecting to launch the 2011 online application system on 1 September 2010. Please check the ACCEA website for updates at http://www.dh.gov.uk/ab/ACCEA/index.htm .A set of the forms can be obtained from the BPS Secretariat if they are not available online from ACCEA. [info@britishpainsociety.org]

It is likely that ACCEA will continue with the arrangements introduced for previous rounds with separate, optional, forms for (i) Research and Innovation (ii) Teaching and Training and (iii) Leadership and Management. Please read the instructions on the ACCEA website so that you submit the correct forms. Also please read the instructions so that you apply for the correct award.

Pain specialists and anaesthetists often fail to progress in the awards process because their forms are poorly prepared and do not reflect accurately the work that they actually undertake. Please read very carefully the advice provided by ACCEA so that you understand fully what it is they are seeking. Please ask for advice from current award holders or people such as the Regional CEA Co-ordinators for the Royal College of Anaesthetists. At the BPS sifting committee, and at every step thereafter, the ranking process will be conducted by a mix of medical and lay people. Almost certainly, many of them will not be familiar with your reputation and achievements. The only way that you can make a case for yourself in this competitive process is through the forms that you submit. Therefore care and attention to detail is vitally important.

Friday 24 September 2010
Closing date for electronic submission of forms to BPS. [accea@britishpainsociety.org]

Friday 10 December 2010
Closing date for electronic submission of forms and citations to ACCEA.