There have been important changes to the National Clinical Excellence Award scheme (NCEAs) which are now known as the National Clinical Impact Award scheme (NCIAs). These changes were introduced unilaterally in spite of the BMA's significant concerns. Read more about our concerns.
The National Clinical Impact Award (NCIA) scheme in England and Wales - formerly the National Clinical Excellence Awards (NCEA) scheme - aims to reward the consultants who contribute most to the delivery of safe and high-quality care and the improvement of NHS services. This includes consultants and senior academic GPs who do so through their contribution to academic medicine.
In Scotland, consultants can apply for discretionary points. In Northern Ireland, there has been no award scheme run for several years.
Local Clinical Excellence Awards (LCEAs) in England
The contractual entitlement to access an annual award round ceased on 1 April 2024. The 2023/24 award round was the final Local Clinical Excellence Award round. Pre-2018 LCEAs will be retained, remaining pensionable and consolidated, but their value is frozen. The review process for these awards has been removed.
LCEAs values
The unit value of the ‘new’ LCEA (one granted between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2024) was £3092 and was non-pensionable. This unit was used to determine the total level of funding that a Trust must provide in each year. Awards granted did not necessarily need to be determined by this unit value. During the pandemic LCEA funding was distributed equally to consultants in a Trust.
Values of LCEAs granted prior to 1 April 2018 were pensionable and of the values below:
| Level | Existing LCEAs (those granted prior to 1 April 2018) £ | National CEAs awarded by ACCEA £ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,016 | |
| 2 | 6,032 | |
| 3 | 9,048 | |
| 4 | 12,064 | |
| 5 | 15,080 | |
| 6 | 18,096 | |
| 7 | 24,128 | |
| 8 | 30,160 | |
| 9* or bronze | 36,192 | 36,192 |
| 10 or silver | 47,582 | |
| 11 or gold | 59,477 | |
| 12 or platinum | 77,320 |
* A local level 9 can be awarded national which is the same as a bronze level award
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