HEALTH bosses in the Borders are hoping to honour the heroes of their hospitals at a ceremony early next year.

And they are looking for help in finding the cream of the local care industry.

Nominations opened last week for the NHS Borders Celebrating Excellence Awards 2018 - with four categories open to public suggestions.

Patients or visitors are invited to put forward anyone they believe is deserving of the Person-centred Care, Primary Care Provider, Supporter and Rising Star of the year awards.

The annual awards ceremony recognises the hard-work, dedication and commitment that staff and volunteers show for NHS Borders.

John Raine, chairman of NHS Borders, told us: “Providing excellent patient care is what we strive to do every day.

“There are many ways that patients and their families and carers share their views and experiences with us - a simple face to face chat with a staff member a telephone call with our feedback and complaints team, an email, letter or sometimes even a tweet.

“In May this year we also launched the online patient feedback platform Care Opinion, which allows patients and families to give direct feedback to our staff.

“Another option is to nominate in our Celebrating Excellence Awards - seeing what it means to someone when their name is announced as a finalist or a winner at the awards ceremony is heart-warming and inspirational – and is always one of the highlights of my year.”

The Celebrating Excellence Awards 2018 will be held at Springwood Park in Kelso on April 28.

And public nominations for the four categories will remain open until January 14.

A total of 13 different awards will presented on the evening.

In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the NHS the 2018 event will also include a one off Platinum Award for outstanding contribution and dedication to NHS Borders.

Further information on the anniversary award, which is sponsored by Five Star Taxis, will be announced early in the new year.

To nominate or for more information go to www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/celebratingexcellenceawards or phone 01896 828297 for a paper copy of the application form.