TV Presenter Fiona Phillips to host The Pennine Acute Hospital Staff Awards

Fiona Phillips

TV presenter, journalist and Alzheimer’s campaigner Fiona Phillips has been confirmed as the host for The Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust’s Staff Awards in June.

Fiona is one of Britain’s best-loved television presenters and broadcaster after 12 years as the lead presenter on GMTV.

In August 2008, Fiona announced that she was to quit GMTV, revealing that her father had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's just a year after her mother had died of the disease and that she had decided to devote more time to him and her family.

Fiona is an Ambassador for Age UK, a Patron of the Alzheimer’s Society and a passionate Alzheimer’s campaigner after sadly losing both her father Neville and mother Amy, from the illness.

Since leaving GMTV, Fiona has presented a number of different programmes including a very personal and emotional film about dementia; ‘Mum, Dad, Alzheimer’s and Me for Channel 4.

She also took part in the ITV documentary The Killer in Me - a show that saw four celebrities agree to take a groundbreaking test to find out their risk of developing 11 major diseases, including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's from their genes.

Last week (23 April), Fiona presented a BBC Panorama documentary on elderly care, called Undercover: Elderly Care. The programme focused on the treatment and care of an elderly person with dementia in a private care home.

Fiona is well known as one of the former judges of the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards and for presenting the GMTV Emergency Services award. She still enjoys presenting radio and as a journalist she writes a weekly column for The Mirror and is the new columnist for Tesco Magazine.

The Pennine Staff Awards consist of 13 categories which recognise the very best of patient care, dedication and innovation among staff within the five hospitals run by the Trust including North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital.

This is the third year the Trust has held its annual staff awards which are fully paid for and sponsored by external companies and suppliers. The event is being supported by Weightmans, Vinci Construction UK Ltd, NG Bailey, G2 Speech, ISoft, Mitie, APS print and management suppliers and Corporate Design Company (CDC).

For the first time, the Pennine Acute Trust is inviting the public to nominate a member of staff or team in a special award category – The Pennine Patients’ Choice Award. The award gives the general public and members of the Trust the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and publicly recognises the outstanding care and treatment given to either them or a relative or close friend.

All award nominations must be submitted to The Pennine Acute Trust by 31 May 2012.

To nominate a member of staff, team or ward email ft.membership@pat.nhs.uk, complete an online form on the Trust website at www.pat.nhs.uk/foundationtrust or call Angela Greenwood on 01706 517302.