By Pamela McGowan Health reporter

Last updated 09:50, Friday, 13 June 2008

Hospital staff from across north Cumbria were given the red carpet treatment at an awards dinner last night.

Doctor of the Year: Madalina Garbi

After weeks of anticipation, the winners of the first Celebrating Excellence NHS Awards were unveiled at the black-tie ceremony.

The awards, at Rheged in Penrith, were launched this year by the North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

It wanted to do something to publicly recognise the hard work and dedication of staff at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, the West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, and Penrith Birthing Centre.

Managers came up with 13 awards categories and asked staff to nominate the colleagues they felt had regularly gone above and beyond the call of duty in the name of patient care.

The 14th award was a special Patient’s Award, sponsored by The Cumberland News, with nominations directly from readers, patients, carers and the general public.

An independent panel of judges picked two finalists in each category, all of whom were invited to attend the ceremony. The winners were presented with their awards last night.

Among them was Carlisle dietician Lorna Harrison, who took home the Patient’s Award for her work in helping people with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Cardiologist Madalina Garbi was named Doctor of the Year for her dedication to helping people living with heart problems across north Cumbria. One of her most significant achievements was helping The Cumberland News raise over £300,000 via the high-profile Have a Heart Appeal for brand new heart-scanning machines.

The Nurse/Midwife of the Year Award went to Jackie Fulton, a sister on the Young Disabled Unit at the West Cumberland Hospital.

Meanwhile Dr Bill Berrill, also based at Whitehaven, picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to service improvements over the past 30 years.

The awards reflected all aspects of hospital life, recognising the work of everyone from doctors and nurses to support staff and administrators. The full list of award winners is:

• Patient’s Award – Lorna Harrison;

• Registered Professional of the Year – Clare Garner and Helen May;

• Innovation Award – Mark Irving;

• Clinical Support Employee of the Year – Barbara Yates;

• Lifetime Achievement Award – Dr Bill Berrill;

• Doctor of the Year – Dr Madalina Garbi;

• Educator and Mentor of the Year – Annette Routledge;

• Patient and Public Involvement Award – Maternity Service North Cumbria;

• Champions Extra Mile Award – Richard Heaton;

• Team of the Year – Wall Wash Team, Cumberland Infirmary;

• Nurse/Midwife of the Year – Jackie Fulton;

• Administrator of the Year – Jackie Stockdale;

• Clean Safe Patient Environment Award – Car Park Attendants, West Cumberland Hospital;

• Manager of the Year – Barbara Telford.