The Categories
Supported Living
This award will be made to the individual or team that has made an exceptional contribution to enabling their service users to exercise choice, control and freedom in their daily lives in a supported living setting. The winner will have demonstrated an ability in some way to have stretched the boundaries of ordinary expectations.
Autistic spectrum services
This category will reward the highest degree of merit in the provision of social care services tailored specifically to individual needs of adults with autistic spectrum disorders. It will recognise the individual or team which can best demonstrate the capacity to change the life experiences or life chances of their service users for the better, whether through supported living, care homes or outreach services.
Brain injury rehabilitation
This award will recognise excellence in the provision of brain injury rehabilitation services. Nominations will be accepted from providers of either intensive or slower stream rehabilitation in either a residential or non-residential setting. Effectiveness in terms of specified outcome measures will be a key consideration in making this award.
Home care
This award will be made to the individual or team best able to demonstrate excellence in delivering high quality, responsive, reliable and personalised home care services for adults with learning or physical disabilities or mental health problems including dementia, at a cost which is acceptable to the customer.
Care home provider
This award will recognise the achievement of a manager, or management team at any level, that has created an environment in a registered care home which compares with the best in independent living within the wider community. It will be up to the nominees, who may be an individual manager or a management team, to make the case for what is ‘the best’.
Training and dissemination of good practice
In an ideal world, every service provider and/or commissioner would be an exemplar of good practice. This award is to honour the individual or organisation which has done the most towards making this ideal a reality. It is open to providers of training services in addition to others who in their daily work have been effective in disseminating good, evidence-based practice in the provision or commissioning of social care for adults with specialist care needs.
Special education
This award will recognise excellence in the provision of specialist education services. Nominations will be accepted from independent schools and colleges providing education to children and young adults with learning disabilities including autistic spectrum disorders. Nominations are invited from individual establishments as well as companies providing care and education across a range of settings.
Early intervention and prevention
This award is open to either a provider or commissioner – or both in partnership – and will recognise a service which can provide evidence of effectiveness in enabling people to stay independent longer and containing future costs of care. An individual or a team may be nominated for the award.
Best design and construction company
A brand new category for 2012 this award seeks to recognise innovation and excellence in architectural design and construction. Nominations should illustrate how effective design can enhance and support the provision of care services. Companies should be able to demonstrate a clear commitment to the care sector and provide clear examples of quality design and construction which enhance specialist care services.
Accountancy firm of the year
The judges will look for success in demonstrating a clear care services focus in order to enhance customer effectiveness. Nominees will have developed unique services to increase the care services client base and provided added value to clients. Finalists will be able to demonstrate innovative and high quality work delivered across a breadth of services, which span all parts of the specialist care sector.
Legal advisor of the year
This category is for legal firms which are able to demonstrate particular skills and expertise specific to the care sector in their client relationships. Factors taken into account by our judges include a thorough understanding of the UK healthcare sector across a range of areas, including regulation, employment law, intellectual property, medical malpractice and real estate. Nominees should demonstrate knowledge and expertise which help their clients navigate the changing UK healthcare sector.
Investor of the Year
This award seeks to recognize the private equity firm, venture capitalist, business angel or investing institution that has done the most to help the specialist care sector prosper and progress over the past 12 months. The award will go to the executive (or management team) able to demonstrate a high level of understanding of the investment needs of the sector and who has made the most effective contribution towards the success of the company which they have backed.
Best commissioner
This award is open to any local authority, NHS or joint commissioner (or commissioning team) of publicly funded social care for learning or physically disabled adults or those with mental health problems and will recognise proactive and effective strategic commissioning policies to build a robust and innovative market for specialist social care services.
Innovation
This category recognises and rewards significant and cutting edge advances in social care services for younger adults – highlighting how new and original methods of delivery are enhancing both the business and the wellbeing of service users. The award is open to individuals, teams, whole units or groups.
Personalisation
Personalisation is the watchword of the government’s transformation policy. This award will be made to an individual or team able to demonstrate exceptional achievement in making personalisation a reality – such that people receiving support genuinely have choice and control over the shape of that support in any relevant care setting. The award is open to independent sector providers of services in care homes, home care or other community based services or supported living.