Health heroes galore in the running for Sunderland and South Tyneside awards

It was a massive task for the judges to select the best when they met to draw up a shortlist for the increasingly popular competition.

We were inundated with nominations from Wearside and South Tyneside for the contest which rewards excellence in health care.

It took hours to sift through a fantastic list of worthy entrants and the message to everyone nominated was ‘be proud because you are all doing wonderful work’.

Entries were received in a range of categories including Nurse of the Year, GP Practice of the Year. Hospital Doctor of the Year and Community Nurse of the Year.

Dentist/ Practice of the Year, Care worker of the Year, Midwife of the Year, Pharmacist of the Year and Team of the Year were among the sections under consideration from our judges.

So were the Customer Service/ Unsung hero Award, the Long term Achievement section and the brand new NHS 70 Award.

The judges included Gavin Foster, managing editor of the Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette; Carol Harries, deputy chief executive of City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust; Chris Cordner, features content co-ordinator at the Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette, and Lynn Wild, Events Sales Manager for Johnston Press North East.

They all agreed the standard of entries was really high.

Watch out for details of who has reached the shortlist in a tsory which will appear in the Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette in the coming days.

In the meantime, our thanks go to the competition sponsors including South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and the Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group.

The next stage in the contest is the grand finale at the Roker Hotel, in Sunderland, on Thursday, April 26.

We will be there to bring you full coverage of all the winners - both online and in a story in the Shields Gazette and Sunderland Echo. And watch out for a post-awards supplement in both papers just days after the awards.