The Gill Schweigert Innovation Award
The Gill Schweigert Innovation Award is an annual event designed to celebrate and acknowledge innovative contributions in nursing across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Now in its third year, the Gill Schweigert Innovation Award celebrates outstanding innovation in nursing across Coventry and Warwickshire General Practice. We’re looking for nurses and nursing teams, including our student nurses, who are making a real difference – delivering innovative, patient-focused care, leading quality improvements, and driving projects that demonstrate meaningful outcomes.
Practices, PCNs or ‘At Scale’ providers can nominate nurses and/or nursing teams here.
Entries will be judged by a panel of General Practice colleagues, with nominees being shortlisted and invited to attend our award ceremony on the evening of 12th November at The Warwickshire, Leek Wootton.
How to apply for the Gill Schweigert Award
Think about the innovation you want to nominate
The Gill Schweigert Innovation Award celebrates nurses and nursing teams in general practice who have made a positive difference for patients, colleagues or their local community. Your nomination does not need to be a huge project. It could be a small change, a new way of working or an improvement that has had a meaningful impact.
Prepare your nomination
Tell us what changed, why it was needed and what difference it made. Try to include the impact of the work, whether that was improving patient care, supporting colleagues, strengthening team working or helping your practice or PCN do something better. More guidance is available through our nomination guide.
Complete the nomination form
When you are ready, complete the nomination form and submit your entry before the 30th August. You will also be asked to provide an A3 poster about the project, where you can use the provided template or design your own.
Shortlisting and awards evening
After nominations close, the judging panel will review all entries and select the shortlisted finalists. Finalists will be invited to present their work at the awards evening, where the winners of the Gill Schweigert Innovation Award will be announced.
Ready to nominate?
If you’ve identified a problem, made a change and seen a difference for patients, colleagues or your team, we’d love to hear about it. Nominations are open now for the Gill Schweigert Innovation Award 2026.
How to enter
All nominees should read the Nomination Pack and submit their nominations using the online submission form here, which must answer the following questions:
- Background – i.e, why the nurse and/or nursing team decided innovation was required? What was or wasn’t happening in the practice/PCN/’At Scale’ provider?
- Resources – what resources were required?
- What process did the nurse/nursing team go through to secure the resources necessary for the project?
- What Quality Assurance process were required/followed? Were any new policies needed?
- What were the anticipated outcomes and what were the actual outcomes? What is happening with the innovation/project now?
- What are the sharing points and lessons learned?
- An A3 poster providing an overview of your project (Template)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to be nominated?
The prize is to be awarded to a nurse/nursing team that has delivered innovation in General Practice. This can be a project that is delivered at a practice, PCN or via an ‘At Scale’ provider (Federation/Alliance) level.
What is the deadline for applications? Can it be extended?
Due to the timeframes of this award process, we will be unable to grant any extensions to the given timelines
Who can apply?
The awards are open to all nurses working in General Practice across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Can we promote the fact that we have submitted a nomination or been shortlisted?
Yes, we actively encourage you to do so. Please feel free to tag or mention the Training Hub, SWGP or IPC social media channels when doing so. Once a shortlist has been made, we will provide a digital asset pack to those nominated.
Can I ask your advice about completing my nomination form?
Yes, but we reserve the right to publish that advice on the FAQ section of the Gill Schweigert webpage to ensure that any points of clarification are available to all.
Can I nominate on behalf of someone else?
Yes, you may nominate a project on behalf of someone else. However, we ask that you make sure those nominated are aware you are doing so.
Will details of the shortlisted entries and winning entries be publicized?
Yes, details will be published, and this will include relevant information/photographs of those nominated.
Do I/we get to keep the trophy?
You will be able to keep both the certificate(s) and prize funds if you win the Gill Schweigert Award. However, the trophies will need to be returned to The Training Hub or South Warwickshire GP Federation by the 30th of September 2027, ready for the 2027 awards.