UK health minister launches Nye awards

UK health minister, Frank Dobson, has launched a £10m reward scheme that will create 'beacons of IT excellence' among local health authorities.

One hundred winning 'beacons' will be presented with an award named after Nye Bevan, the famous Welsh politician and founder of the NHS. Dobson claimed in his speech at the Labour Party conference in Blackpool that the Nye Bevan awards will be to the health sector what the Oscars are to the film industry. "I look forward to the NHS Nyes being every bit as popular as the Oscars," he said.

The most likely recipients of a 'Nye' award will be authorities or surgeries making good progress in certain areas of IT and other, more general, technical excellence. An example of this progress could be a particularly innovative development of electronic patient records to improve the speed and quality of treatment.

The NHSNet - a planned national communications network supporting the sharing of medical information between doctors, hospitals and authorities - will also feature in the awards as a point on which competitors will be judged.

Beacon authorities will be showcased as centres of excellence. The £10m will go towards funding award-winning pioneers to spread the word to other authorities.

All GPs and NHS Trusts are invited to send nominations for the first year of awards, which will be announced by 1 April 1999.