I may have mentioned it before, if not I certainly should have done – West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (your hospital) is up for a prize – not one, not even two, but three, yes I said three, national awards supported and organised by the Health Service Journal. Over a thousand entries and we made it through to the last six. So, in the best Hollywood tradition - the nominations are: · West Herts for its Leadership Academy · West Herts for Improving the Patient Experience through the use of data · West Herts (the prestige one) for the Acute Healthcare Provider of the Year. We are the only Trust in the country to reach the final in three separate categories and the only Trust in the East of England in the acute provider of the year award. This is a fantastic achievement and a great accolade to our staff whose professionalism and expertise, as well as their sense of humour and humility, is a constant source of inspiration to us all. As you read this I want to hear you raise three loud cheers for the staff.

But what does it mean ….winning? In its absolute sense it obviously means someone will have lost and some would argue, in health in particular, that is not a good thing. In another sense it is purely congratulatory and not something we should crow about. But I feel it is an acknowledgement that people recognise health services for the people of west Herts have improved dramatically and that is something we should all be proud of. We’ll know in November if we win and I was just musing about how this fantastic story of staff driving up standards, patients being treated better and quicker just might be turned into a heart rendering movie. Now, who would they get to play me? - printable suggestions only please!