Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 – all you need to know

29 Jun 2026

Clinical Audit Awareness Week, hosted by HQIP, took place from 22-26 June 2026, and what a week it was!

Under the theme Improving Lives with Healthcare Data, the week showcased how insight can be turned into meaningful action and improvement, with a vibrant programme spanning five themed days. With a packed agenda, the campaign included daily thought-provoking webinars, discussions, and online events announcing the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards winners. The topics covered ranged from improvement delivery through to strategic impact – and much, much more:

Turning Strategy into Reality: Exploring how clinical audit supports strategic and national priorities
Patient Involvement and Care Equity: Focusing on patient voice, community engagement, and tackling inequalities
Innovation and Transformation: Showcasing cutting-edge approaches, including AI, open source software, and data analytics
Patient Safety: Demonstrating how audit data directly improves safety and outcomes
Data-Informed Improvement: Looking at how we can turn insight into measurable impact.

The recordings and slides for all events are expected to be made available on HQIP’s dedicated #CAAW26 webpage over the next couple of weeks (we will also endeavour to cover some of the questions we weren’t able to answer during the sessions here). More about the campaign, and the events, can also be found here in the meantime: www.hqip.org.uk/caaw26.

We do audit because we believe that tomorrow can be better than today,” Professor Henrietta Hughes OBE, Patient Safety Commissioner (at HQIP’s Patient Safety webinar, 25 June 2026)

The campaign has been hailed as the “best yet”, bringing together healthcare professionals, patients, and partners to champion the transformative impact of clinical audit and data-driven improvement across the NHS. With unprecedented engagement on social media and event attendee numbers, it was a truly collaborative affair. However, this was evident beyond HQIP-hosted activities. A key part of the success of #CAAW26 was the involvement and engagement of those involved in improving healthcare. From anaesthetists to vascular specialists, and from auditors and patients to healthcare leaders, we could not have run this campaign without you. We are grateful to everyone who took part, whether that’s taking part in HQIP-hosted events or running your own activities, up and down the country.

Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards

A major highlight of the week was the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards, celebrating outstanding individuals and teams who are transforming healthcare through audit and evidence-based improvement. Find below a summary of the winners:

Strategic Impact Award – Winner: Dr Aicha Bouraoui and the Adolescent and Young Adult Rheumatology Team, University College London Hospitals
Equity and Patient Involvement Award – Winner: CAMHS Link Worker Team, West London NHS Trust
Innovation Award – Winner: Data Science and Infection Prevention and Control Team, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Patient Safety Award – Winner: Dermatology Department, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
Evidence into Practice Award – Joint Winners: Dr Inderpal Singh OBE, Fracture Liaison Service, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; and the Urology Prostate Cancer Pathway Team, Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

In addition, two additional commendations recognised excellence in the use of national clinical audit data and effective communication for impact, further underlining the importance of collaboration and sharing learning across the system.

Details of all award winners, as well as runners-up, can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Congratulations to all participants, winners, and contributors who made this week such a success!

More from HQIP

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 not only celebrated achievements, but also reinforced a clear message: data, when used effectively, can change lives. Did you know that HQIP’s website is a central hub for data, reports and further resources to support healthcare improvement:

In addition, you can also find information about particular clinical, and other topics (such as health inequalities) by using the ‘Topics’ drop-down menu across the top of this site, for example, the Maternity, perinatal & neonatal page contains information about programmes, reports and other updates relating to those areas.

Stay up-to-date: To find out the latest about #CAAW26, such as when event recordings are being shared, as well as other data-informed improvement news, sign up to HQIP’s mailing list.