Nursing and midwifery play a key role in ensuring children receive the best start in life, those working in this field must consider the care and support needs of the wider family as well as the child.

Open to registered nurses and registered midwives working in services for children and young people and maternity services. This award aims to recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution to the care of children or young people or the care of mothers-to-be and new parents.

A registered children’s nurse, health visitor, school nurse, midwife, and all others working in a clinical role or managing a clinical service in children's healthcare.

The nominee should clearly demonstrate:

• a commitment to person-centred care, innovation and delivering high quality services that make a difference to the people receiving care
• the positive impact of their work for patients, families and colleagues
• the use of a credible evidence base and/or developing an evidence base to underpin the work for which they are being nominated
• how their work contributes to the delivery of local and national policy and strategy within health and social care.

If you have any questions or queries regarding the awards, please get in touch by emailing scotlandnurseawards@rcn.org.uk

Return to the homepage

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

The team demonstrates a strong commitment to tackling inequalities through the Best Start Maternity Strategy, ensuring inclusive and equitable maternity care. Their work is rooted in national policies and equality legislation, focusing on reducing barriers to healthcare for vulnerable groups, including BME women, same-sex partners, transgender individuals, and those with disabilities. Praised for delivering innovative projects such as the altered foetal movement monitoring, maternity public health initiatives, and an independent domestic abuse advocacy service, they provide holistic support. The team’s efforts at addressing interpretation gaps have been crucial and they are now the second highest user of interpreting services within the health board. By integrating patient feedback, data-driven decision-making, and a focus on equality, NHSGGC’s Best Start midwifery team has made significant strides in reducing healthcare inequalities and improving maternity care.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

The Health for All Team assesses and addresses the unmet health needs of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Young People (USAYP) arriving in Glasgow, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and East Dunbartonshire. The initiative ensures timely comprehensive health assessments within 28 days of referral to improve healthcare access for these vulnerable individuals, many of whom have endured trauma, trafficking, or abuse. Working with key partners, the team assesses physical and emotional health, screening for infections, and ensuring vaccinations are up to date, also working to address mental health and social isolation. Their goal is to ensure early health interventions and referrals lead to faster treatment for serious conditions. The initiative provides vital healthcare access and support, ensuring UASYP receive timely, trauma-informed, and inclusive care while helping them navigate the healthcare system independently.

NHS Tayside

This team has been nominated in recognition of their innovative, high-quality care for school-aged children and young people. With mandatory advanced specialist training, they operate a comprehensive care model, supporting children in ten priority areas, including mental health, child protection, care-experienced youth, homelessness, substance misuse, sexual health, and domestic abuse. Their work is described as going beyond traditional school nursing, ensuring vulnerable children receive the best care, protection, and support. This dedicated, compassionate team works continuously to innovate in their practice, improving young people’s health outcomes. By working holistically, and delivering trauma informed care, they strive to address adverse childhood experiences and ensure children have access to dental care, healthcare support, and family-focused interventions.

NHS Tayside

The CEYPS team, based in Dundee, aims to provide care, support and advice to care experienced children and young people up to the age of 26. It involves a team of nurses and midwives working closely with social workers, school nurses, doctors and other services to promote the health and wellbeing of these young individuals. The team provides support for young people living in different settings, improving transition for those leaving care, and offering health input for care planning and accommodation matching. Challenges in implementation were faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to adaptations in communication and working methods. Despite challenges, the team strengthened inter-agency links and received recognition for its work. The team has improved the experiences and health outcomes of young people by providing them with support, access to services, and a sense of safety and trust. Feedback from service users has been positive, encouraging continuous improvement of the service. Plans for dissemination include sharing the model of working with other health boards and raising the profile of the team through events and education sessions.

NHS Fife

Described by colleagues as a team which goes above and beyond, the central Fife based Children and Young People’s Community Nursing Service support and care for children, and their families, who are diagnosed with complex and severe health conditions. The team also provide palliative support for patients who are unable to access the specialist services of an urban setting. The team prides itself on being a strong voice for the children and families they serve, advocating to ensure they get the same level of care that a child in a big city would receive. One of their innovations included setting up a multi-disciplinary team approach to supporting enteral feeding at home with a one stop clinic to ensure care is joined up and seamless across the specialities. They also developed a ‘near me’ virtual clinic during the pandemic to support their vulnerable patients who could not attend appointments. The team’s goal is to demonstrate the value of good community children’s nursing and to encourage the nurses of the future to join the service and continue the legacy they have created.