Three levels of award are available in England, from lowest to highest: National 1, National 2 and National 3 (N1, N2, N3). In Wales, a lower level (National 0) also exists. The awards last for 5 years and have an annual, non-pensionable value of £10,000 (N0), £20,000 (N1), £30,000 (N2), £40,000 (N3).
Timeline
The application window closed for 2023 National Clinical Impact Awards on 5 May 2023.
ACCIA has published an indicative timetable for the 2023 round; however, this may change based on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other operational factors.
|
10 March to 5 May 2023 (17:00) |
Applications open |
|---|---|
| Mid-January 2024 | Notifications sent to successful applicants, and finance processes initiated to back pay awards |
| Mid-January to mid-February 2024 | Appeals window open |
Who can apply
You can apply for a new award at any time after you have completed a full year in an eligible role.
If you already hold a Clinical Excellence Award granted under the old scheme, transitional arrangements apply in England between the old and the new schemes.
How to register and apply with ACCIA
You can start your application on the ACCIA online portal - the application window opened on 10 March 2023.
If registering for the first time, select New to the system | Register and complete the form as a Contact of an Existing Employer. If your employer is not listed, contact accia@dhsc.gov.uk. You will get an email with your login details and be asked to set up a password. You can register to the portal at any time. (RCPCH has no access to the ACCIA’s online portal.)
ACCIA has a single online application form for all awards, each applicant can highlight their contributions in the same way.
Your application needs to show what you have delivered that has had an impact at a national level, over and above the expectations defined in your job plan.
There are five domains, against which you should state your contributions with supporting evidence, and consider providing evidence of national impact relating to equality, diversity and inclusion:
- Developing and delivering a high-quality service
- Improving the NHS through leadership
- Education, training, and people development
- Innovation and research
- Additional impact - in which you can provide other evidence, particularly if it relates to published NHS or other relevant health objectives.
You can read the full Applicants' guide on GOV.UK.
How applications are scored by ACCIA
Assessors on ACCIA’s regional sub-committees and ACCIA’s main committee will carefully review the evidence in each application, and provide a score. They will recommend applicants for the national awards to health ministers for their approval.
The level of award recommended depends on the scores by the ACCIA committees. The relative ranking of all applicants determines who gains which award level, and this is based on the number of awards available at each award level.
You can see how applications are scored on part 5 of the Applicants' guide on GOV.UK.
Can RCPCH provide a supporting citation for ACCIA applications?
No. In the prior NCEA and current NCIA schemes, accredited National Nominating Organisations (NNOs) such as the College could provide a limited number of citations to support applicants. However, on 23 January 2023 the Chair and Medical Director of the Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards (ACCIA) announced that ACCIA’s main committee had decided to change the way in which NNOs interact with the NCIA process from this year.
As a result of this change, member organisations (MOs) - previously NNOs - will no longer provide citations and rankings to a selected number of applicants.
RCPCH will no longer be able to provide members with citations in support of their ACCIA applications.
Webinars and resources to support your application
Earlier this year, ACCIA ran two webinars, one for applicants and one for employers, hosted by ACCIA's Medical Director, Professor Kevin Davies. The applicant webinar gives an overview of the process and best practice for completing your application. It covers the domain structure and scoring processes, eligibility and submission process. Both webinar recordings are on this Google Drive link.
ACCIA has published resources, including posters and infographics.
Tips for your application to ACCIA
- For each domain, explain the national impact of your work. If there is international impact, explain the direct benefit to NHS reputation or to the wider UK health economy
- Include specific dates for each evidence you use
- Include different evidence and detail for each of the five domains. Repetition is not recommended as you can only gain a score for a specific activity once
- Provide evidence only from the last five years
- Explain all acronyms and abbreviations
- As an applicant, you can receive support from as many Membership Organisations (MOs) as you wish. That includes this web page and other RCPCH resources, and resources from other MOs. You should indicate which organisations you sought advice from
- Remember that MOs cannot provide citations to applicants
- ACCIA has given an example for domain 2, Improving the NHS through leadership, which you may find helpful - you can download the leadership domain example below
Any questions?
You should find everything you need to help you on the ACCIA home page – and if you have any questions that are not covered, you can contact ACCIA at accia@dhsc.gov.uk
If you have any questions for the RCPCH team please contact ncia@rcpch.ac.uk – we will answer them if we can!