Little Voices won the Patient Involvement and Choice category at the first NHS Excellence Awards, giving the project at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust a place among the Midlands regional champions. The initiative, led by the Patient Experience Team, brings pupils from Pelsall Village School into the hospital to share ideas and experiences through nhs.uk-linked recognition.
More than 400 entries were submitted across the Midlands in ten categories, and the ten regional champions will go forward to the national shortlist. Winners will be announced at NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester in June 2026.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
Garry Perry, Associate Director of Patient Voice (Experience) at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, said the recognition reflected work already built into the service. “We are immensely proud of this recognition for such a fantastic programme. Our young people, alongside our strong partnership with Pelsall Village School, have firmly embedded the voice of the child in our organisation, leading to meaningful service improvements and better care experiences.”
The project is designed to help staff understand how clinical environments can feel safer, calmer and more welcoming for children. Little Voices visits are planned throughout the year, keeping pupils involved as the hospital tests ideas and hears what young people notice first.
Pelsall Village School
The partnership with Pelsall Village School is the practical core of the project. Pupils are taken into the hospital to offer views from a child’s perspective, and that input has already been taken into account as the programme is launched at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
That second rollout shows the award is not only a one-off recognition. It also places the model in another trust while the regional winners wait for the national shortlist and the June 2026 ceremony in Manchester. Dr Jessica Sokolov, Regional Medical Director for NHS England – Midlands, said: “These awards celebrate the outstanding work taking place across the Midlands, with local projects and teams making a real difference to patients and communities. All those recognised should be very proud – congratulations to our Midlands champions.”
NHS ConfedExpo Manchester
For patients and staff, the immediate change is simple: the child voice used by Little Voices has moved from a local project into regional recognition, with a route to national judging now open. The next marker is whether the Midlands champions carry that work into the shortlist and, in June 2026, into the final awards stage in Manchester.
