Countess of Chester Hospital shortlisted for national HSJ award for pioneering Women and Children’s Building
The Countess of Chester Hospital’s new Women and Children’s Building has been recognised nationally, with a shortlisting for the ‘Towards Net Zero Award’ at the 2026 HSJ Awards.
More than 1300 entries were received this year, with 231 projects and individuals reaching the final shortlist. The high volume and exceptional quality of applications showcases the impressive levels of innovation and care continually being developed within the UK’s healthcare networks.
Following the thorough judging process, the new Women and Children’s Building was shortlisted, ahead of the official awards ceremony to be held later this year (19th November), with its achievement to deliver the first NHS net zero carbon building standing out as a real ‘success story’ worthy of a prized place on the panel’s shortlist.
The Countess of Chester Hospital’s £110m Women and Children’s Building has earned national acclaim after becoming the first completed NHS building in England to meet the NHS Net Zero Building Standard. Fully electric and gas‑free, it produces its own clean energy, monitors carbon emissions in real time and meets the BREEAM Excellent benchmark, placing it among the most energy‑efficient healthcare buildings in the country. Bringing maternity, neonatal, paediatric and women’s outpatient services under one roof, the building was shaped with extensive input from staff, patients and the local community to ensure a modern, welcoming environment that puts families first.
Its commitment to sustainability is matched by a focus on comfort and accessibility, with natural light throughout, wide corridors, family‑friendly facilities, landscaped courtyards and specialist spaces such as the Lavender Suite and neonatal garden. The project also broke new ground by introducing a Net Zero Carbon Coordinator to oversee energy and carbon decisions – a role now being viewed as a model for future NHS builds. The building has since attracted interest from NHS leaders, universities and maternity teams across the country, who are visiting Chester to learn how the Trust delivered a carbon‑neutral facility that is both environmentally responsible and designed around the needs of local families.
Jane Tomkinson OBE, Chief Executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This building has put Chester on the map. Families felt the difference from day one, and the rest of the NHS is now looking to us for ideas, with the whole construction industry recognising it as among the best built in the last year for its sustainable design and the way families and staff shaped it from the start. It shows what modern healthcare can look like – welcoming, sustainable and designed around the people who use it.
We are delighted to be shortlisted for a HSJ award – it will be a huge boost for our dedicated and hardworking team, especially in a year when the competition was so tough with an unprecedented volume of entries from so many other equally deserving Trusts and individuals.”
“We’re proud of what this means for our community.”
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, adds; “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge the Countess of Chester Hospital for being shortlisted in the category of Towards Net Zero Award.
“However, it’s always important to remember that the HSJ Awards are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS.
“We can’t wait to welcome our finalists to the awards ceremony in November and to recognise and applaud such impressive achievements across the sector. Huge thanks also go to our headline partner, Lloyds Clinical, who share our mission of driving the standard of healthcare excellence and creating better patient experiences.”
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 19th November 2026. The event not only reflects the HSJ Awards’ enduring ethos of “sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes and innovating drivers of better service” but will also serve as a timely and well-deserved thank you to the sector.
The awards judging panel was once again made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, as well as a range of esteemed board level executives from NHS Trusts across the UK.
The full list of nominees for the 2026 HSJ awards can be found at
https://awards.hsj.co.uk/shortlist-2026 alongside details of the Awards partners at
https://awards.hsj.co.uk/partners.
About the HSJ awards
The most coveted accolade in UK healthcare, the HSJ Awards is the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. Over the last 40 years, the awards have been celebrating healthcare excellence through huge political, technological and financial challenges within the sector.
Through a rigorous, fair and transparent judging process the awards produce a roll call of the best organisations, teams and people in the NHS and the wider health sector.
About HSJ
The Health Service Journal is the only title to cover all aspects of publicly funded healthcare, providing news, analysis, best practise information from some of the most powerful and respected figures in health. The HSJ audience is formed of healthcare leaders from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds and both public and private sectors.