A SCHEME which has helped more than 300 people in Worcestershire improve healthcare in their communities has won acclaim at a national awards ceremony.

NHS South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was nominated for the Commissioner Award for Excellence in Public Participation at the inaugural NHS England Excellence in Participation Awards for its Strengthening Healthy Communities project, which is run in partnership with Worcester Community Trust and health and social care charity Turning Point.

The scheme recruits and trains people as community champions, who are able to provide information about health issues in their area in order to improve healthcare provision.

The trust's engagement manager Helen Perry described the scheme as "a great success".

"We are really proud to have the communities involvement acknowledged by NHS England," she said. "We are currently working to ensure that the lessons learnt by the project can be embedded in future work to ensure the excellent outcomes can be sustained.”

Nottingham West CCG and Hertfordshire Valley CCG were also nominated for the award at the event at the Manchester Central Convention Centre on Monday, March 3, with Nottingham West named the winner.