FINALISTS, friends and judges will gather this evening for a special event that celebrates the health and care sector.

The South Wales Argus Health and Care Awards presentation event will take place tonight at Chepstow Racecourse.

The event will celebrate the health and care sectors through 15 award categories.

Television presenter, GP and author Dr Hilary Jones will host our special awards presentation event at the racecourse where finalists will get to celebrate their achievements.

Hussain Bayoomi, managing director of the South Wales Argus, said: “The Health and Care awards recognises staff working within all areas of the 15 categories.

“They reflect professionalism, dedication, and passion throughout all sectors. They are an opportunity to shine a light on the incredible talent we have in Wales.

“All our finalists are winners and it is an honour and a privilege to host this evening’s showcase event.”

The event will award the finalists for the 15 categories: GP Practice of the Year, Health Care Professional of the Year, the Early Years Award, Healthy Neighbourhood Award, Best Patient and Public Involvement Award, Volunteer of the Year, Third Sector or Community Team of the Year, Mental Health Team of the Year, Hospital Team of the Year, Health Campaign of the Year, Best Innovation Award, the Together we Achieve Award, the Innovative Care in the Care Home Sector Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Research Impact Award.

The headline sponsor of the event is St Joseph’s Hospital, in Newport.

Fiona Davies, business development director at St Joseph’s Hospital said:“It’s really exciting for us to be a part of establishing these awards in their inaugural year.

“Individuals working in the Health and Care professions work incredibly hard to provide vital services and we’re proud to be sponsoring an award that will recognise that hard work and dedication.”

Finalists for the Mental Health Team of the Year Award, which is sponsored by Wales & West Utilities, are the CALDS Team at St Cadoc’s Hospital, Cedar Park at Ysbyty’r Tri Chwm and Newport Primary Care’s Mental Health Care Team.

Sandra Morse-Weaver, Wales & West Utilities occupational health manager, said: “As part of our wellbeing strategy, we have a variety of options to support colleagues who struggle with mental health, including our employee assistance programme service, alongside our occupational health team.

“Mental health is, quite rightly, finally beginning to lose its stigma and people are starting to talk more openly about their mental health issues – and we are really keen to do our bit in breaking down barriers and openly discussing the subject.

“We are keen to support mental health awareness in our own business and wanted to help the wider community by supporting these awards.”

The Third Sector or Community Team of the Year Award is sponsored by the Cwmbran Centre. The finalists are Sex Matters Too by Volunteering Matters who are based in Pontypool, Age Connects Torfaen and leading heart charity Welsh Hearts.

Michael Bell, marketing co-ordinator, said that Cwmbran Centre is sponsoring this award because being part of the community is a “significant need”.

Mr Bell said: “As a shopping centre we aim to be very community based and orientated. We operate very differently to other places in that we function as a retail destination as well as a hub for the community.

“When it comes to health and care it is everybody’s main priority. There’s a lot of people who work so hard in the community for the community.

“We want to help celebrate the hard work that these people are doing and award them for making things better for us and our community.”

We will feature all the award winners in a special feature in tomorrow’s edition. You can follow the awards live this evening at southwalesargus.co.uk.