‘A brilliant night, a great evening

SURGERY REFLECTS ON GREAT AWARD TRIUMPH

It was a night to remember for an award-winning Sunderland GP practice - and now bosses are urging Echo readers to nominate their successor.

The Happy House Surgery in Sunderland took home the trophy for the GP/GP Practice of the Year category in last year’s Best of Health Awards.

Now comes the search for this year’s winners and Stephen Harder, practice manager for Happy House, reflected on the hugely successful event last year.

He said: “It was an absolutely brilliant night and it was a great venue with a lovely atmosphere. Everyone felt part of it.”

He described the competition finale as “well put together.

“We were fortunate to be winners but really, everyone in the room were winners and so were a lot of the people who did not make it to the finals night.”

But Stephen welcomed the effect that being an awards winner has on the surgery. “It is nice to have that recognition, particularly as it came from our local press,” he said.

Happy House was chosen as a winner after the competition judges read the nominations for the practice, including one from a patient who said she “would not be here today” if it were not for Happy House.

They spotted the signs of a very serious condition and their intervention helped to save her life.

Now the search has started to find a successor to Happy House in this year’s competition.

Happy House is another of the great examples of health professionals who give such wonderful service to the people of Wearside and County Durham.

We want you to nominate your own health heroes and here are some details of this year’s competition.