Nurses from an Oxford NHS trust can be nominated by patients for an award celebrating the care they provide.

Oxford Health is encouraging those who have experienced exceptional care from its nurses to nominate them for a DAISY Award, an international recognition programme.

The trust employs around 2,000 nurses who are eligible to be nominated for the awards which celebrate the skilful and compassionate care provided by nurses.

In the three years the trust has been running the scheme, there have been 30 winners and 40 who have received highly commended certificates.

One recent winner is Catrina Austin, a nurse who has worked at Oxford Health for 10 years.

Also known as Kitty, she helps older adult patients recover and rehabilitate on the Wenrisc Ward at Witney Community Hospital.

She said: "I was having a bit of a bad day and one of my senior colleagues said ‘come and have a coffee’ and took me to the staff room where all my Witney colleagues were.

"Britta Klinck was there and there was a presentation about the DAISY awards. And then they said I’d won. I was so surprised I cried."

She added: “I’ve worked giving care for a number of years and started in a care home before joining Oxford Health.

"This is my first job in the NHS and I started as a health care assistant and have been a qualified nurse for a year.”

Another winner is Kudzanai Clement Moyo, who was recognised for his contribution to patient care at Oxford Health.

Over eight years with the trust, he has moved from his initial role as a nursing assistant to now being a registered mental health nurse.

Mr Moyo, who is also known to patients as Clement, is a staff nurse at the trust’s Phoenix ward in Oxford.

He said: "It was unbelievable - I still can’t believe it. I was at work and someone said there’s a thank you meeting we have to go to.

"So we went for the thank you meeting and I saw Britta Klinck, Dr Rob Bale and Nokuthula Ndimande.

"It was quite a shock to be honest to find that I had won an award. The hard work of all of our team makes a difference to people’s lives.

"Helping patients to feel better and recover is the real reward for our hard work."

To nominate a nurse for a DAISY Award, visit the Oxford Health website and fill out the form.

The nomination will then go to the trust's own DAISY panel for consideration.