GRATEFUL students have voted in their hundreds to recognise staff from the NHS and social services who offered them work placements.

The Placement of the Year Awards shed light on the valuable hours of experience offered to health and social care students at Oxford Brookes University.

Some 350 providers at Oxfordshire's hospitals, care homes and health centres, as well as others across the UK, were recognised at the event on Tuesday.

Providers, which were nominated by students on criteria such as quality of care and student support, flocked to the university's Harcourt Hill campus for the results.

Netta Lloyd-Jones, head of practice education at Oxford Brookes University, said: "High quality placement learning is essential for health and social care education.

"Our placement colleagues, who have years of experience in their discipline, provide rich, varied experiences and have a significant impact in role-modelling best practice.

"We take this opportunity to demonstrate how much we value their input to our professional programmes.

"The Placement of the Year Awards allows the students an opportunity to recognise and praise those who have supported them."

The overall winner was Abingdon Community Hospital's musculoskeletal physiotherapy department, which was also named Physiotherapy Placement of the Year.

The team, based in Marcham Road, was commended for its 'passionate and inspiring' staff and its 'nurturing' learning culture.

Physiotherapy student Kristina Ilsley, who nominated the team, said: "I loved this placement and learnt more than I could ever imagine.

"It was lovely to be part of a team that genuinely enjoy their job and help each other out. It was an excellent placement that I did not want to leave."

All nominations were judged by a panel of members from the partnership practice education group at the university's school of health and social care.

Overall 12 teams from the NHS received awards, as well as five private, voluntary and independent sector winners and three local education and training boards.

A further 89 nominations were made where the student considered the placement worthy of winning Placement of the Year, and of these, 11 were highly commended.

Professor Val Heath, practice placement quality lead at Health Education England, presented the awards.