The team from Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) scooped the Nurse-Led Patient Safety Initiative of the Year, following a rigorous judging process at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2026.
The rapid access angina clinics, believed to be among the first of their kind nationally, allow patients to be seen in clinic and access a same-day CT scan and results. This has helped suspected angina patients to be seen significantly quicker, without the need for lengthy referrals and multiple hospital visits.
Maria Hobden, Nurse Consultant in Cardiology, said: “We are so proud to have our hard work recognised on this national platform and against such strong competition from across the NHS.
“Our clinics are the result of team working from every part of the patient’s angina journey, from their initial referral from their GP to our diagnostic teams and into our cardiology services. We saw an opportunity to make services better and safer for our patients, using a new way of working in the community in partnership with our community diagnostic centres and we believe these clinics were the first of their kind nationally to take this approach.
“The results we are now seeing show how much of a difference we are making for patients.”
Working with NHS Lincolnshire ICB, the team redesigned how the service was accessed by patients using hospital-based clinics and the county’s three community diagnostic centres. The team worked closely with radiology staff to ensure clinics could be held where CT scans were available to review urgent cases on the same day, maximising the use of Lincolnshire’s state-of-the-art CT equipment.
This new way of working reduced waiting times by several months and reduced the number of missed appointments by moving care into the community via the community diagnostic centres. By seeing patients quicker, the service has helped to reduce the number of patients being admitted to hospital with chest pain and reduced the incidence of heart attacks and subsequent heart failure.
For staff, it has also opened up valuable opportunities for role development for radiographers working across LCHG.
This is not the team’s only opportunity to win a national award this year. They are also finalists in the Modernising Diagnostics category of the HSJ Awards, which take place at Evolution London on Thursday 19 November 2026.