THE NHS trust that runs Okehampton Community Hospital is in celebratory mood, having recently won awards for its leadership and apprenticeship scheme.

Keri Storey is assistant director of health and social care for the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust and Devon County Council. She was victorious in the National NHS Leadership Recognition Awards at a ceremony in London, beating nine other finalists in the NHS Partnership/System Leader category — to follow up her success in the South West regional awards in November.

Her role spans over half of Devon and she works closely with a range of health and social care organisations as well as the independent and not-for-profit sectors.

Keri said: 'It is a great honour to be recognised nationally for our work here in Devon.

'While I was proud and humbled to receive the award on a personal level, I would like to dedicate it to our highly skilled and dedicated community staff.

'They do an amazing job supporting people to live healthily and independently, as close to their home as possible. The best thing is knowing that these integrated services and developments are making a real difference to our patients.'

Keri and the other national winners have been invited to a champions' dinner in London in April and will receive coaching and mentoring opportunities via the NHS Leadership Academy's expert faculty.

The trust has also been highly commended for the success of its apprenticeship pro-gramme.

The award centred on the trust's clinical healthcare support worker apprenticeship, which was launched in November 2011.

Since then, more than 50 students have undertaken a clinical work-based appren-ticeship at one of the trust's community hospitals including Okehampton, and at North Devon District Hospital.

The trust won the accodale at the Apprentice of the Year Awards run by Education + Training Skills.

The trust was also highly commended in the employer of the year category at the awards ceremony, held in Exeter.

The awards tied in with National Apprenticeship Week, which celebrates apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals and employers.

The trust works closely with local colleges and training providers and since 2008 has employed a total of 193 apprentices in clinical, administration, business and specialist support roles.

Darryn Allcorn, interim irector of workforce and organisational develop-ment, said he was delighted with the awards. 'Apprenticeships offer a great opportunity for individuals to gain on-the-job experience, develop skills and see how different departments work together as part of a large and complex organisation, which stands them in good stead for their career.

'The awards success reinforces the benefits and opportunities these schemes can bring, and we will now be looking at how we can further promote apprenticeships as part of our wider recruitment strategy.'