A SENIOR member of staff at Hampshire Hospitals was given a surprise at an awards ceremony.

Hospital staff recognised by patients and colleagues for their dedication and commitment were commended at a special WOW! Lunch event hosted by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Overall, 23 individuals and eight teams were put forward by grateful patients, relatives and by fellow staff at the trust, which runs the hospitals in Andover, Basingstoke and Winchester.

Among them was a surprised chief nurse Donna Green, who is retiring at the end of the month, who received a WOW! award for her dedication to the scheme after presenting the other winners with their certificates.

Donna said: “I’ve got mixed feelings because this is going to be my last WOW! Awards lunch.

“It is one of the highlights in our calendars, where we get all our winners together to celebrate and say thank you. You can hear the buzz in the room.

“We have got the whole range of staff, clinical and non-clinical, junior and senior. I’m really glad to have been able to present awards and to reflect on how successful the awards are.”

Another award winner was Becky Toms, a community children’s nurse, who was recognised for the devotion and compassion she showed to a young girl in her care and to her family, who described Becky as “a friend, agony aunt, nurse, play worker and a shoulder to cry on”.

Chris Wilgar and colleagues in the trust;s paediatric diabetes specialist nursing team were nominated by parents for their commitment to their patients, particularly the yearly residential activity days they take young diabetic patients on, where they take part in activities, including kayaking, rafting, and zipwire.

Elsewhere Mark Walker and the trust security team were recognised for the calm and professional way in which they keep patients and staff safe. He said: “I’ve never been to an award celebration lunch before, so it’s really nice to be invited and it’s good to see how many different people doing all sorts of different jobs have won awards. We all just think we’re doing our job but still it’s nice to be recognised for it.”

Also, Susan Horton and Caroline Nash, who organised a tea party for the trust’s volunteers, were recognised.