This will be the 11th year of the Communication Award, which is organised in association with the Medical Royal Colleges and the Patients Association. The aim of the award is to enhance mutual understanding between patients and health care professionals, and should describe work that could be widely adopted for the benefit of patients. There is a prize of £10 000 to the winning entry. The closing date for the full submission is July 2004, and a one-page outline must be sent to Lady Nourse by the end of May 2004. It is important to point out that this is an award for an initiative completed recently or nearly so, and is not sponsorship. The criteria must show an improvement in one of the following areas: doctor-patient communication; communication between doctors and the general public; communication skills of individual doctors as a result of the project; methods of transferring information between doctors and patients, and inpatient systems. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has won the prize 2 years running. For further information about the award, please contact Lady Nourse, Dullingham House, Dullingham, Newmarket CB8 9UP (tel: 01638 508186; e-mail: nourse@dircon.co.uk).