HOSPITAL staff from across the county have been praised for their outstanding contributions to patient care in the first Staff Achievement Awards held by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Innovation, dedication, ins-piration and enthusiasm were the themes that shone through in an evening when domestic staff, doctors, managers, nurses, midwives and other members of the trust's 5,000-plus workforce joined together to celebrate their achievements.

The categories had been drawn up to ensure that every single member of staff - from Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital - was eligible for nomination.

Hosted by BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester's Katie Johnson, the ceremony saw winners announced with an Oscars-style opening of a sealed envelope, before being presented with engraved trophies and watching video tributes from colleagues in front of a packed audience of staff and guests.

Trust chairman Michael O'Riordan said: "We always say that our staff are this trust's greatest asset - this was an occasion where we were able to show just how greatly we value their efforts.

"These awards were a showcase for some of the great things we have achieved over the last year.

Trust chief executive John Rostill also hailed the inaugural event as a great success, adding: "We have not been good at singing our own praises in the past, despite the huge amount of excellent work that is done at our hospitals every day of the year."

AND WE ALL WON AWARDS ON THE NIGHT, TOO

Karen Goode, Terry Chen, Wayne Rutherford.