William Rathbone X Award & Lecture – nominate by 31 March

We will be holding the third William Rathbone X Annual Lecture and Award Presentation in London on Friday 9 May 2025.

Lecture

We are delighted that Professor Olga Yakusheva will be giving the William Rathbone X annual lecture. Professor Yakusheva is an expert in health economics and much of her work has focussed on the economic value of nursing and the contribution of nurses to good outcomes for individuals, organisations and society as a whole.

The lecture promises to be a catalyst for all nurses to rethink how they articulate their economic value; and for senior nurses, health and social care leaders and managers to consider how they position the economic case for funding nurses in the health and care system.

Crucially, Professor Yakusheva argues that greater nursing resources can be achieved within existing budgets.

Please note – this event is by invitation only.

Award

The QNI recognises the necessity of excellent leadership at a strategic level in the delivery of nursing care in the community. For this reason, in 2023 we created The William Rathbone X Annual Award for Excellence in the Executive Nurse Leadership of Community Nursing Services. The Award is named in memory of an outstanding former member of the QNI’s Council, William Rathbone X, and has been generously funded by his family.

The Award gives national recognition of the impact of strategic nursing leadership in the delivery of excellent community nursing services.

Further information about the award can be found here.

Eligibility & Nominations

Nurses from not-for-profit providers of NHS-funded community health services in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are eligible. This includes integrated community and Mental Health trusts, hospital-community trusts, local government, and social care.

Chief Nurses/Directors of Nursing can be nominated by Chief Executives of provider organisations. Nominators are asked to keep their nominations confidential. Nominations will be assessed by a panel including QNI staff and trustees, and external assessors.

Nurses in commissioning bodies, integrated care boards, central government, or single-unit providers (e.g., individual nursing homes or hospices) are not eligible.

Nominations must demonstrate:

• Contributions to national community nursing or the wider care-at-home sector
• Excellence in service delivery
• Supporting evidence (e.g., CQC ratings, employee feedback, policy influence, network participation)

For eligibility queries, please contact us here. 

How to Nominate your Executive Nurse Leader

Applications are now open!

Nominations should be made by completing the online form.

The deadline for nominations is: Monday 31 March 2025.