YORK'S Covid Vaccination progamme has achieved national recognition by being shortlisted for a coveted HSJ Award.

York healthcare provider Nimbuscare, which set up and ran the jabs centre on a disused car park at Askham Bar, has been shortlisted for the ‘Covid Vaccination Programme Award’ at the HSJ Awards 2022 for its outstanding contribution to healthcare.

A spokesperson said more than 1,000 entries were received for this year’s awards, with 219 entries making it to the final shortlist across 162 organisations.

"The official awards ceremony will be held in London on November 17 when the winners will be announced," she said.

"Nimbuscare’s entry focused on how its teams had set up one of the largest vaccination centres in the country in a disused car park in York.

"It was one of the first providers to deliver both a local and national Covid Vaccination Programme, delivering up to 4,000 vaccinations per day and more than 600,000 vaccinations to date.

"Nimbuscare’s community collaboration, grass-roots community work and 400-strong volunteer programme is nationally renowned as one of the keys to its success.

"Nimbuscare’s entry was selected based on ambition, visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that Nimbuscare has had on both patient and staff experiences."

Nimbuscare’s Chief Executive Madeline Ruff said: “We’re all absolutely delighted to have been chosen as finalists two years running and to have the opportunity to showcase the community’s achievements on a national platform.

“This shines the light on the outstanding efforts and achievements of our teams and partners.

“Nimbuscare is all about community collaboration and at each phase of the vaccination programme we excelled as a community.

"We became known as a local expert at a national and regional level, supporting other vaccination services.

“The programme has left a legacy in York and we’re now reaping the benefits of this work by being able to invest back into the community – supporting our GP Practices, our local charities and our patients.

"We’re already seeing our vision come to life by expanding the vaccination centre into a Community Care Centre and setting up our second Community Care Centre at Acomb Garth.”

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan said: “We’re all very much looking forward to welcoming our finalists to the awards ceremony in November, celebrating their impressive achievements and jointly acknowledging our values of sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes and continuously driving for better service.

"But we never forget that the award ceremony is not just a celebration within a night, but a platform to recognise the hard work of all our NHS staff, all year round.”

The judging panel was made up of respected figures within the healthcare community,including chief executives of several health trusts.