Each year the Chairman of the Scottish Division brings together the Scottish Division Distinction Awards Committee made up of senior award holders in each of the different specialties and from each part of Scotland wherever possible. The Committee is chaired by the most senior award holder in psychiatry in Scotland. The Secretariat is provided by Scottish Division staff.

At the meeting the nominal roll of all eligible consultants is circulated. The Chairman reads out each name and members are asked to interrupt if someone is mentioned who they think should be discussed. In this way a long list of names is written down. The Committee member who has proposed the person will speak briefly on their behalf. Each person is discussed by the Committee and then the list is whittled down until the Committee comes to an agreement about who should be included for the exact number of nominations the Division has been allocated. Agreement is also reached about who will write citations for those nominated.

Scottish Division staff then write to the person who has been nominated and ask them to submit their CV on the standard form issued by SACDA, also available from the website. Each person being nominated needs to have a citation writer (who must also be an award holder) who will support their nomination. They need to supply the citation writer with a copy of their CV. The citation writer is also contacted and asked to submit their citation on the SACDA form. A deadline is given for all paperwork to be completed.

Once all the CV forms and citation forms are returned, the Chairman of the Division writes a covering letter to SACDA enclosing the forms with a copy to the President of the College.

Members can also self-nominate by downloading the CV form from the SACDA website and submitting it along with a citation by the closing date.

Further information about SACDA can be found at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sacda/home.htm