From a Throwaway Comment to a HSJ Win

Back in 2017 I said something out loud that I had not really planned to say.

It was one of those offhand comments you make in an office chat without thinking too deeply about it. I remember saying that before I left NHS Dorset I wanted to be part of a team that won an HSJ Award. It was not a carefully thought out ambition or a big announcement. No real rhyme or reason, I just wanted it.

At the time it felt like quite a big thing to say. HSJ Awards are a huge deal across the NHS and winning one is not something that just happens. But even though I said it casually, the idea stuck with me. Over the years it quietly became the final thing I wanted to achieve during my time at NHS Dorset. I was never thought it would actually happen, but the goal stayed there in the back of my mind.

Fast forward to 2024.

When I heard that we were submitting the Only Order What You Need campaign for an HSJ Award I remember feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. We had seen some fantastic results and we knew the work had made a real difference. The campaign had helped change how people think about ordering medication and had started to reduce prescription waste across Dorset. What made it special was the team behind it. Everyone involved had worked incredibly hard and really believed in what we were trying to do.

The campaign itself was built carefully around research, insights and what we know about our audiences. We focused on positive messaging rather than telling people off. We kept the language simple and used clear design principles so the message would stick. We thought carefully about where people would see it and how it would land. The power of three in our messaging, the design choices, and the channels we used were all built around behavioural insight and communication techniques that we knew would work.

What was particularly exciting was that the campaign had started to travel beyond Dorset. Other NHS organisations were beginning to pick it up and use it themselves. Seeing something that started locally being shared more widely across the NHS felt like a real achievement in itself. We were growing those environment and cost savings beyond our Dorset area.

One of my clearest memories from the application process happened during a moment that was far less polished. Ellis was back in hospital, which for our family is unfortunately something we are quite used to. While we were there I received an email asking if there was anything else we wanted to add to strengthen the application. I can still picture myself pacing the hospital corridors with my Iphone in hand, adding in everything I could think of. I wrote about the design thinking behind the campaign, the positivity of the messaging, the way we had built the channels around our audience and the communication principles that underpinned it all. Eventually I pressed send and hoped that we had managed to tell the story well enough.

When the awards night arrived we were genuinely just happy to be there. Being shortlisted already felt like recognition of the work the team had done. We thought ‘If anything, this is a good night out’. The HSJ Awards bring together some of the most inspiring projects across the NHS and the competition in every category is incredibly strong.

Our table was having a brilliant evening. There was a lot of laughter and excitement and that shared feeling that whatever happened we had already done something worth celebrating. When our category came up we started doing what everyone does in that moment. Nervously trying not to make eye contact with anyone else. ‘And the award for Medicines, Pharmacy and Prescribing Initiative of the Year category goes to….

It could be us.

No, probably not.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Then suddenly they said the name of our campaign.

ONLY ORDER WHAT YOU NEED. It landed. We had actually won.

The table erupted. We were cheering, hugging each other and laughing in that slightly disbelieving way when something brilliant has just happened. All the hard work from the team, all the conversations, the planning, the creative thinking and the persistence had paid off. It also happened to be my 30th birthday.

Standing there holding the award I had one of those strange full circle moments. Seven years earlier I had made a throwaway comment in an office chat. Somehow that small comment had quietly turned into a goal that stayed with me throughout my time at NHS Dorset. In 2024 we achieved it.

It was never just about me. It was about the team who created the campaign, the people who supported it, the colleagues who believed in it and helped make it happen. The HSJ award represented all of that effort and collaboration.

For me it also marked the final goal I had set myself at NHS Dorset.

And what a way to tick it off.