Celebrating the best of gesh at the 2026 CARE awards
NHS staff and volunteers were awarded for their outstanding care and dedicated service at an emotional ceremony hosted by The Traitors star and GP, Dr Amos Ogunkoya.
The third charity-funded ‘gesh CARE awards’ were held on Wednesday 23 September at London’s iconic Kia Oval. Colleagues at St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group (gesh) were recognised at their annual ‘Oscars’, featuring tributes from grateful patients and their families.
Lydia Baker, a Specialist Bereavement Midwife at Epsom and St Helier, received over 50 nominations from the public. She won the Public Choice Award for Outstanding Care, for supporting a family whose 8-day-old son sadly died from a rare infection.
Lydia and the Maternity Bereavement Team helped bereaved parents Jodie and Ben Picknett through the traumatic loss of their son, George, in 2023.
Lydia also supported Jodie through her subsequent pregnancy and was there for the birth of her daughter, Lucy.
Jodie said:
“We never thought we would see happiness again. Lydia stepped into our life quickly and held us and cared for us, to help us process George’s death. Anything we were worried about, Lydia was there on hand, texting at 3 a.m.”
Other guests included 11-year-old Catherine L’Estrange, the first NHS patient to receive a revolutionary new treatment for a progressive form of severe blindness, following the world’s first gene therapy surgery at St Helier.
Cricket-mad Catherine, who was thrilled to be at the famous sporting venue, said:
“If this treatment works, it will help me to carry on seeing things around me, and most of all I will be able to carry on reading books, which is one of my favourite things to do.”
One of the evening’s highlights included a robotic dog delivering the winner’s name to the stage. Clive, whose bark is worse than his byte, is the canine cousin of Rosita, who was recently trialled at St George’s Hospital in Tooting to transport vital blood samples, speeding up patients’ test results. Both were developed by healthcare logistics firm Apian.
Presenters included judo champion Frema Agyei, who feared her competing days were over after a devastating wrist injury left her unable to train without severe pain.
Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon, Shamim Umarji, and her team at St George’s enabled Frema to compete in the Commonwealth Games this summer, where the compere singled out Shamim for praise during the opening ceremony.
The gesh CARE awards recognise 18,000 clinical and non-clinical staff who make a difference to patients, colleagues, and the wider community. Volunteers were also celebrated for the vital contributions they make.
Winners were crowned across 13 categories, with more than 800 nominations received – including nearly 200 for the public choice award alone.
This year’s winners included:
- Dr Eva Galiza and the St George’s Vaccine Institute won the Better Health Award for improving access to vaccines and vaccine research, and for championing inclusive research, working closely with pregnant women, new parents and underrepresented communities.
- Alan Bowen, praised as a “much-loved ambassador for the St George’s Hospital Charity”, and Nicky Simpson, representing the Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Chairity, were joint winners of the Volunteer of the Year Award.
- The Epsom and St Helier Catering Team won Charity Champion of the Year for going above and beyond their day-jobs of keeping patients and colleagues well-fed by fundraising for the hospitals’ charity.
Dr Amos added: “I’m so honoured to have hosted this year’s awards, celebrating the incredible work in the community and in hospitals across South-West London.
“As a proud Londoner and a GP, I’m completely blown away by the care, skill and compassion of our award winners and nominees. They deserve this recognition for the way they help their patients, their communities, and each other, every day.”
The joyful event was fully funded by St George’s Hospital Charity, Epsom & St Helier Hospitals Charity, and local businesses.
