The body which administers Clinical Excellence Awards is to delay announcing which doctors have received a national award in 2011 until later in the year.
The 2011 round of national CEAs closed in December 2010, with the results expected in the summer of 2011. However, ministers wanted to delay their decision on new awards and renewal applications while they considered the report from the pay review body - the DDRB - on the future of both local and national Clinical Excellence Awards.
The administering body - the ACCEA - has thus decided to announce the results of the 2011 round at the same time as the government’s response to the DDRB review is made available.
Part of the remit for the DDRB was to give advice on new awards in 2012. The ACCEA anticipates a decision on this in September, and is therefore going to open the 2012 round - should it go ahead - later than usual in October.
It aims to maintain the closing date of 9 December 2011 for national awards. The ACCEA is providing Word versions of the application form can be downloaded here to allow consultants to begin work, should they wish, on their applications before the launch of the online system.
The ACCEA is not anticipating any changes to processes or procedures in the employer-based awards guide, assuming of course that CEAs are continued following the government’s review.
The BMA recently urged consultants to apply for the 2012 national award round, despite the uncertainties. Dr Mark Porter, chair of the consultants committee, said: “We need to build momentum, demonstrate that there is support for the 2012 round, that we expect it to go ahead and that we value these awards. And, I believe that there is every possibility that following the report of the review the 2012 round will go ahead. And if it does, you should start preparing your application now.”
Early in the summer the government asked the DDRB to consider closing the scheme for new national awards in England as part of its ongoing review. This followed the Department of Health’s submission to the review in which it proposed a ‘slimmer’ system of national awards with trusts being given control of local awards from 2012.
Tags: CEAs
Looks like last year’s national award results are out, or rather, I know somebody who’s just been informed of their success (not me!).
Does this mean that the DDRB report will finally see the light of day?