Judging and Confidentiality

The awards will be judged by a panel of respected industry leaders and experts in their field. The judging is a rigorous two-stage process, including pre-scoring to determine shortlists followed by the group judging meetings when entries are discussed and evaluated in detail to decide the results.

Confidentiality and the published awards results

You have total control of the information that may be disclosed when the results of the awards are reported. In the published coverage of the awards your entry will be strictly limited to:

• The content of the executive summary (maximum 200 words) of your submission – it is your responsibility to ensure that this is prepared with all due care and attention

• Visuals of the supplementary materials – the organisers suggest you highlight one or two images or a video that you are happy to be used for this purpose.

Confidentiality and the judging process

We recognise and understand the sensitive nature of the information submitted in your entries. With this in mind, there are systems in place to ensure confidentiality at every stage of the judging process.

Every judge is required to sign a legally binding confidentiality agreement before appointment. PMGroup also undertakes to adhere to the same confidentiality agreement.

Initially the judges will only review the on-line submissions.

The judging panels

Healthcare Communications Awards, and Creativity and Innovation Panels – judges reviewing these categories are selected for their professionalism, experience and expertise relating to specific categories. The panel also includes stakeholders. Judging groups for each category comprise no more than eight or nine judges and a maximum of three categories will be allocated to each group. Judges will have access only to submissions within those categories.

Individual, Team and Consultancy Awards Panel – a second independent panel of highly respected senior personnel with experience in healthcare communications, leadership and business performance will review the entries in these categories.

Entrants shortlisted in the Individual, Team and Consultancy Award categories will be invited to attend a short presentation on Friday 19 May 2023 at a London venue tbc. The organisers will send invitations and details to entrants by Friday 5 May 2023; therefore, it is advisable for all entrants to hold 19 May open. See individual category details for information about what to prepare for the judging day.

Pre-scoring the entries

Each judge reviews and scores the entries based on the criteria specific to that category based solely on the content of the entry.

Group judging days – 4, 5 and 19 May 2023

Judging groups come together to review first round scores and discuss entries in more detail taking into account further supporting evidence supplied in the campaign materials.

Following rigorous discussion and further scoring, finalists and winners are identified for their categories.

The judges’ decision is final and neither the organisers nor the judging panel will enter into individual correspondence about the results.

Judging criteria

Marks will be allocated according to the specific criteria defined for each category – see category descriptions for further information. Please ensure that you refer to these when writing your submission to ensure you are fully aware of what specific information the judges will be looking for and how they will be scoring.

The judging panels reserve the right to disqualify or move entries into alternative categories from those originally entered, if they deem it applicable. The organisers will advise you if this is the case.

The finalists will be announced on www.pmlive.com following each judging session and all entrants notified directly.