Bedfordshire Palliative Coordination Service is shortlisted

Keech Hospice, Sue Ryder St Johns Hospice, Bedfordshire NHS colleagues in Primary Care, Acute and Community are delighted to announce that the Bedfordshire palliative coordination service has been shortlisted for Neighbourhood and Community Care Innovation of the Year at the HSJ Awards, recognising an outstanding contribution to healthcare and securing a place at the prestigious awards ceremony later this year.

1300+ entries have been received for this year’s Awards, with 231 projects and individuals reaching the final shortlist. The high volume and exceptional quality of applications showcases the impressive levels of innovation and care continually being developed within the UK’s healthcare networks.

Following the thorough judging process, Keech Hospice, Sue Ryder St Johns Hospice, Bedfordshire NHS colleagues in Primary Care, Acute and Community was shortlisted, ahead of the official awards ceremony to be held later this year (19th November), with its Bedfordshire palliative coordination service standing out as a real ‘success story’ worthy of a prized place on the panel’s shortlist.

The Bedfordshire Palliative Coordination Service brings together Keech Hospice, Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice and NHS colleagues to provide one simple, coordinated route into expert palliative care support across Bedfordshire. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through NHS 111 Option 4, the service gives patients, families, carers and health and care professionals access to timely advice, reassurance, symptom management support and help navigating care options. By joining up services through a shared system-wide approach, the partnership is making palliative care easier to access, helping more people receive the right support sooner and enabling them to remain in their preferred place of care wherever possible.

Bedfordshire palliatve coordination service

Elaine Tolliday, Deputy Chief Executive and Clinical Director at Keech Hospice, said: “We are delighted that the Bedfordshire Palliative Coordination Service has been shortlisted for a 2026 HSJ Award. This recognition is a testament to the strength of partnership working across Keech Hospice, Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice and NHS colleagues, and to the dedication of everyone involved in creating a simpler, more responsive way for people to access palliative care support.

At its heart, this service is about helping people live well with a life-limiting illness, ensuring patients, families and professionals can get expert advice and coordinated support whenever they need it. Whatever the outcome on the night, we are incredibly proud to see this collaborative work recognised nationally and to share what we have learned with colleagues across the health and care sector.”

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, adds; “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge the Bedfordshire palliative coordination service for being shortlisted in the category of Neighbourhood and Community Care Innovation of the Year.

“However, it’s always important to remember that the HSJ Awards are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS.

“We can’t wait to welcome our finalists to the awards ceremony in November and to recognise and applaud such impressive achievements across the sector. Huge thanks also go to our headline partner, Lloyds Clinical, who share our mission of driving the standard of healthcare excellence and creating better patient experiences.”

The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 19th November 2026.

The event not only reflects the HSJ Awards’ enduring ethos of “sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes and innovating drivers of better service” but will also serve as a timely and well-deserved thank you to the sector.

The awards judging panel was once again made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, as well as a range of esteemed board level executives from NHS Trusts across the UK.

The full list of nominees for the 2026 HSJ awards can be found here alongside details of the Awards partners.