About 240 hospital staff, families, friends and local businesses gathered for an evening of celebration at the Corn Exchange in Brighton.

They honoured the work carried out by the thousands of people working on the front line and behind the scenes at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The awards were set up by the trust in association with The Argus to recognise the often unsung efforts of those who dedicate their days to helping others and to honour workers whose efforts had been particularly impressive.

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Hundreds of nominations came pouring in from Argus readers, patients, managers and colleagues when nominations opened earlier this year.

The judges for the 13 categories were The Argus editor Michael Beard, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals board member Julie Nerney, Amanda Fadero from NHS England, Brighton and Hove mayor Denise Cobb and Haywards Heath mayor Sandy Ellis.

Mr Beard, pictured below, said: “We are so proud to be involved in such a heart-warming event. It is truly humbling to hear the incredible work and acts of kindness carried out by the tremendous award-winners and nominees in theNHSwhich would otherwise go unnoticed.”

Trust chief executive Matthew Kershaw presented his own special award in the 14th and final category of the night.

Winners were presented with trophies and prizes donated by local businesses and runners- up were also honoured.

The evening was compered by comedian Stephen Grant and live entertainment was provided by the trust's Sing to Enjoy Choir.

Mr Kershaw said: “It is so important we make the time to recognise what a positive difference we make and this event has definitely felt like a real celebration of everything that is good about our hospitals and the people who work in them.

“The fact that 755 of our staff, patients and their relatives took the time to submit a nomination in itself demonstrates how much of what we do matters to people and hearing just a selection of what was said about our winners and runners up and what they have said about being chosen for an award has been genuinely uplifting and humbling.”