NHS heroes from across Oxfordshire have been recognised at a special awards ceremony to honour their achievements over the past year.

Almost 300 staff, volunteers, and fundraisers attended the Oxford University Hospitals Trust Staff Recognition Awards at Oxford Town Hall.

Winners and finalists were selected from each of the 13 award categories, designed to celebrate the contribution they had made to patient care and working life at the trust in 2018.

The ceremony was supported by the Oxford Hospitals Charity.

Winners and finalists were picked from more than 1,000 nominations by a panel of staff and patients.

Awards included nurse of the year, doctor of the year, the patients’ choice award and leader of the year.

A particularly touching tribute was paid to nurse of 30 years Dayle Kinch, who died in July following a battle with breast cancer.

Her family attended the ceremony to collect her posthumous Chairman’s Award presented by trust chairman Dame Fiona Caldicott.

During her treatment Mrs Kinch had worked tirelessly to raise funds to help support other cancer patients.

Mrs Kinch’s husband, Steven, said he had been ‘overwhelmed’ by the support and kind words spoken about his late wife.

Daughters Leah Kinch and Danielle Grant added: “It just highlights how special she really was.

“She just cared about people, not just in nursing but in life. It was never about her, it was always about the patients.”

The ‘unseen heroes’ of the trust’s estates department scooped the Patients’ Choice award for their dedication and daily efforts to keep the hospital buildings running smoothly behind the scenes.

Interim director of estates Mark Neal said: “I’m absolutely thrilled the team have won this award. They’re incredibly special – they’re behind the scenes every day of the year, at weekends, and overnight.

“They’re the people who keep the lights on, keep the heating going, and work away in the background to keep everything ticking along.”

During the ceremony the trust also publicly recognised Dame Fiona, whose term of office comes to an end in March.

Speaking on the evening trust chief executive Dr Bruno Holthof said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to be able to have these celebrations. The amazing stories that are being shared and each story shows the commitment of staff to provide excellent care to our patients.

“More than 1,000 nominations is a big number of staff that are explicitly being nominated and recognised for something that they’ve done in the previous year.”

See the full list at ouh.nhs.uk/about/staff-recognition