Rewarding clinical excellence in the National Health Service

Abstract

This article is intended to provide an improved understanding of how the Clinical Excellence Awards (CEA) scheme works in England.The author was a member of the Cheshire and Mersey sub-committee from 2003–2009, the last 3 years being medical vice-chair.While the views represented within this article are intended to be as accurate as possible and are based on his experience, they are personal to the author, who no longer has any official role in the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (ACCEA) and do not necessarily represent the views of ACCEA.The official guide to the scheme is available at < http://www.dh.gov.uk/ab/ACCEA/index.htm >.