Published on 13 October 2025
The Health Inequalities and Patient Experience (HIPE) team at Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance recently won a prestigious healthcare award, and their entry has been highlighted in a focus on the winning teams.
The Picker Experience Network (PEN) Awards are the first and only awards programme in the UK dedicated to recognising and celebrating best practice in patient experience across health and social care. From hospitals and community services to independent care providers and international organisations, the PEN Awards showcase the incredible work being done to put patients, families, and carers at the heart of care delivery.
The HIPE team won the Personalisation of Care Award for “using powerful stories from patient storytellers to create significant impact and deliver measurable and identifiable improvements to patient experience”.
The Personalisation of Care Award is aimed at how the system has improved patients’ experience through acting on the needs of individuals, with often the smallest things having the biggest impact.
The PEN Awards Book of Best Practice publication, entitled Learning From The Best, reported: “CMCA has embedded patient storytelling as a powerful tool for personalising care and driving service improvement. Through its HIPE team, CMCA has supported 73 patient stories since 2022, each carefully matched to strategic programmes to maximise impact.
“These stories have led to tangible changes, including improved diagnostic access, system-wide accessibility reviews, and the creation of a People, Communities, and Experience toolkit. Storytellers have joined board meetings, influenced screening uptake, and helped shape communications and service design. Their voices are not only heard, they are acted upon.”
The citation goes on: “What makes this initiative stand out is its outcome – focused storytelling, strategic integration, and gold -standard support for patient representatives.
“Storytellers are empowered to campaign for change, and their contributions are embedded in CMCA governance, ensuring sustainability. The ripple effect has inspired wider regional adoption, with plans to influence Integrated Care Board strategy.
“This is personalisation in action – where lived experience shapes care, and patients become partners in transformation.”
You can read more here: https://patientexperiencenetwork.org/pen2025/