THE "superstars" of the National Health Service have been celebrated at an awards ceremony.

The honours were handed out by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust at its tenth Making a Difference Awards at Hardwick Hall in Sedgefield.

The trust cares for people with mental illness and learning difficulties and the finalists were described as "the superstars of the NHS".

Hundreds of nominations were received and 40 finalists chosen for the ten categories. They included the "People's Choice Award" in which more than 1,000 votes were cast by members of the public.

In a joint statement, chief executive Colin Martin and chairman Lesley Bessant said: "We are privileged to have such a fantastic workforce that consistently strives to minimise the impact of mental ill health and learning disabilities."

They added that the trust's staff were working in challenging times yet continued to provide "the best care possible".

The high point of the night, the Chairman's Award For Every Day Excellence, was won by Nicky Harmer, clinical nurse specialist for children and young people's services. Judges said she was a "brilliant ambassador and worth her weight in gold".

Roll of honour

People’s Choice: Winner – Kilton View, learning disabilities services, Brotton. Highly Commended – The Lodge, Bankfields Court, learning disabilities services, Middlesbrough.

Clinician of the Year: Winner – Angela Cross, advanced practitioner, adult mental health services, South Durham affective disorders team, Spennymoor. Highly commended – Sagarika Nag, associate specialist, liaison psychiatry services at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

Healthcare Support Employee of the Year: Winner – Susan Lenihan, support worker, mental health services for older people, memory clinic, the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton. Highly commended – Colin Hough, healthy living advisor, community adult mental health services and mental health services for older people, Cherry Tree House, York.

Non-clinical Services Employee of the Year: Winner – Heather Simpson, involvement and engagement lead for York and Selby, trust secretary’s department, Bootham Park Hospital, York. Highly commended – Alison Edwards, administration co-ordinator, single point of access team, children and young people’s services, Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Volunteer of the Year: Winner – Sue Greenup, ARCH Recovery College volunteer, Durham. Highly commended – John Bettridge, volunteer carers’ representative, York and Selby.

Clinical Team of the Year: Winner – Holly Unit, children and young people’s services, West Park Hospital, Darlington. Highly commended – Psychologically Informed Planned Environments (PIPE) team, offender health services, Low Newton, Durham.

Non-clinical team of the year: Winner – The Converge and Discovery Hub team, adult mental health services, York St John University, York. Highly commended – Administration team, Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale learning disabilities services, Scarborough.

Outstanding Initiative, clinical services: Winner – Learning disabilities services, North Yorkshire. Highly commended – Single point of access, children and young people’s services, Durham and Darlington.

Outstanding Initiative – non-clinical services: Winner – Smoking cessation project team. Highly commended – Information service desk, finance and information, Flatts Lane Centre, Middlesbrough.

Chairman’s Award for Everyday Excellence: Winner – Nicky Harmer, clinical nurse specialist, children and young people’s services, Durham. Highly commended – Marie Mitchell, community mental health nurse, adult mental health services, Redcar and Cleveland affective disorders team.

The awards ceremony was sponsored by Ward Hadaway, P+HS Architects, Reed Specialist Recruitment, Sir Robert McAlpine Limited and UNISON.