“Please vote for the NHS Best of West awards because it is a great opportunity to recognise and congratulate the health care professionals, local residents and volunteers who give up their time or go above and beyond in their contribution to improving our local NHS and community.”

If you would like to nominate anyone for a Best of West award visit the West Essex CCG website at: http://westessexccg.nhs.uk/news/best-of-west-awards-2016
Last year Chris won his award for all the extra that he does as a personal trainer, Chris explained: “We do a lot of exercise referral, so on a one to one basis we look at taking people with low and medium risk health conditions, giving them education on improving their lifestyle, being more active, improving their diet and exercising more as well.”

For Chris advising clients about health is a natural thing to do, he says: “It goes hand in hand with coming to the gym. It encourages people to go to their GP to have health check-ups and to be more aware of contra-indications through exercise and just to be more aware of indicators of poor health.”
In spite of this Chris did not expect to win: “I was surprised, because there were clearly a lot of worthy people being nominated, but I felt quite proud because the company have allowed me free reign to really develop links with West Essex CCG and to establish the exercise referral scheme. I think 160 people voted for me, so I guess it is thanks from them, which makes it feel worthwhile.”

This year there are 12 categories across the whole of the west Essex health and wellbeing spectrum. This ranges from: Best Primary Care Award – for a professional or team who work in a GP surgery or clinic, to Individual volunteer of the year – for a person who has helped improve health and care for people in their community.

Nominations close on Wednesday 24 August 2016. To request a printed nomination email [email protected] or to nominate online visit http://westessexccg.nhs.uk/news/best-of-west-awards-2016