A King’s Mill Hospital nurse who goes the extra mile has received a top accolade.

Rachel Bennett, a Nurse Practitioner at the Sutton hospital, was awarded The People’s Award at Sherwood Forest Hospitals’ annual Staff Excellence Awards after she was nominated by a patient.

Rachel recently went above and beyond her role while caring for a patient who was going through a difficult and distressing time.

She worked closely with the family involved, using her own time to research further ways she could help.

Rachel said: “I am overwhelmed and delighted to have won the award. To be nominated by a member of the public is an absolute honour.

“For someone to take the time and communicate with the hospital about the care they have received brings immense satisfaction and I am most grateful for the nomination.

“To have the care I provide acknowledged in this way is the highest accolade and I am incredibly proud, not only of what I have achieved, but also of the care we provide at Sherwood Forest Hospitals as a team.

“Winning this award has to be the highlight of my 21-years in the NHS so far.”

The People’s Award was one of 16 that were given to staff who work at King’s Mill, Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital to celebrate their achievements and dedication to delivering outstanding care and service to patients.

The trust’s annual staff awards celebrate more than 4,500 staff and 700 volunteers.

This year, a record number of nominations were received, with almost 400 staff, patients, and visitors making nominations for individuals and teams.

One team that stood out at this year’s awards has worked hard over recent years to improve safety around sepsis and reduce the number of related deaths to become one of the best performing hospital trusts in the country for sepsis management.

The sepsis team won the Efficient and Safe Award and took home the Chairman’s Award for Excellence, which is given to an overall winner.

The awards ceremony, hosted by chief executive Richard Mitchell alongside special guest, European and Paralympic champion swimmer Ollie Hynd, was held at the John Fretwell Sporting Complex, Sookholme.

Staff from all parts of the trust, along with some of its volunteers, were recognised.

Richard Mitchell said: “I was delighted to host this year’s Staff Excellence Awards.

“This was the first that I have I attended at the trust since taking on the role as chief executive earlier in the year and it made me incredibly proud to be able to celebrate so many outstanding members of staff working at our hospitals.

“One of my priorities as a chief executive is to make sure that as an organisation we are recognising where teams and individuals are doing an outstanding job and thanking and rewarding them for it — that is why events like this are so important.

“We received a record-breaking number of nominations and inevitably only a small number of those could make the final shortlist, but everyone nominated should be extremely proud.

“This demonstrates what a great trust we are already, and our commitment to making further improvements to patient care in the future.”

Pictured is Nurse practitioner Rachel Bennett. who was awarded The People’s Award, which was nominated by patients and the public. From left, Richard Mitchell, chief executive; Rachel Bennet; Sue Holmes, lead governor who presented the award; and Ollie Hynd.