INSPIRATIONAL NHS staff have been recognised for their dedication at an awards ceremony.

The hard work of dozens of individuals and teams was ack-nowledged with a buffet and presentation for those who won a WOW! award between August and November last year.

Staff can be nominated in various categories – patient safety, customer care, above and be-yond, innovation and environmental, and sustainability and productivity.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust usually recei-ves between 50 and 70 nominations each month across the three hospital sites in Basingstoke, Winchester and And-over.

These nominations, from colleagues and the public, are then presented to the trust’s council of governors to choose the winners, who are then awarded a certificate.

Many of the winners gathered at a celebratory buffet last week where Donna Green, director of nursing, thanked them for their efforts. She said it was a great feeling to be able to tell the winners what an excellent job they do.

Liz Padmore, chairman of the Foundation Trust, echoed her sentiments, saying: “It is the wonderful things you do for our patients that make this organisation as good as it is.”

Derek Williams, founder of the WOW! Awards, told those gathered that they should be very proud of themselves. He said: “The public love the NHS.”

School nurse Anne Togher, 62, said she was delighted to have received an award after 40 years working with the hospital and 30 years working with local schools in Tadley. She retired on January 6, but is planning on becoming a member of the bank of staff at the hospital.

Anne, left, received two nominations from those she has worked with. Her nomination read: “She is well-loved and respected throughout the local community for her wise counsel and unfailing good humour.”

Also being honoured was the Charlie’s Day Unit and paediatric team, who were nominated by a mother whose son had been treated at CDU because of complications arising from the condition pancytopenia, in which there is a reduction in the number of red and white blood cells.

The nomination read: “I want to say the care is not just good – it is exceptional. Not just once but every time.”

Dr Priya Ilangovan, consultant paediatrician at the unit, said: “The team is fantastic. It’s great to get a WOW! award.”

Midwife Mandy Coleman, who has worked at Basingstoke hospital for 17 years, said she was delighted to pick up her first award, which she won with fellow midwife Jo Fairhurst, who works at the Andover site. They were praised for their “expertise, dedication and compassion” which they showed during a home birth in Hartley Wintney in October.

Mandy said: “It’s just lovely to read the nomination and to know that you have done a good job.”

Also honoured at the ceremony were seven recipients of awards in the new NHS Heroes scheme – all previous winners of the Director of Nursing Awards who were put forward by the trust for the national scheme.