Staff at the Royal United Hospital have been honoured at an awards ceremony for their contributions and achievements in health and patient care.

Patients were encouraged to nominate a member of staff who had gone above and beyond the call of duty for the RUH Hospital Hero award.

Healthcare assistant Tom Farrell was awarded the accolade for his exceptional patient care.

He has been working on the William Budd ward since June 2009, and his actions impressed a patient and her husband so much that the man wrote to the hospital praising him.

The Hospital Hero award aims to acknowledge the person at the hospital, from surgeon to volunteer, who had made the most difference to patients' lives in the past year.

Mr Farrell received £150 and an engraved glass award.

The awards presented at the ceremony at the Assembly Rooms recognised the dedication and hard work of many staff.

The infection control team was voted Team of the Year for its work to improve infection control practices across the hospital, where MRSA cases have fallen sharply.

Most Innovative Team award went to the anterior minimally invasive surgery team on Phillip Yeoman ward, for its work with patients undergoing total hip replacements.

Healthcare assistant Jayne Duggan was presented with the Customer Care of the Year award for her innovative and practical thinking to reduce the infection C Difficile on Forrester Brown ward.

Her achievements include developing a bed space checklist, which is used once an area has been cleaned after a patient has been discharged.

This has proved so effective that it is being used in other wards across the hospital, and has significantly reduced the number of cases of C Difficile.

Personal achievement awards were presented to those who had made an outstanding contribution and loyalty awards to staff in recognition of long service.

A new award for research and development went to consultant anaesthetist Dr Tim Cook for his research into airway management, and the Patient Safety Award went to junior sister Lisa Brown for developing and implementing a way to reduce pressure ulcers in patients.

Special awards were also presented to the intensive therapy unit in recognition of the team's bravery and professionalism in managing a fire after an oxygen cylinder exploded in November.

RUH chairman Brian Stables said: "The awards are important as they give us a great opportunity to showcase the amazingly talented people we have at the RUH.

"It gives us a chance to thank the 4,000 staff who day in day out work incredibly hard caring for our patients, they are all stars."