SHE is known as ‘the Queen’ by her friends and colleagues and now she has a brand new title – Hospital Hero.

Gertie Broom scooped the Daily Echo’s Reader’s Choice Award for being an unsung hero at the Princess Anne Hospital after volunteering there for 30 years.

The 92-year-old won the prize at last night’s Hospital Hero Awards run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, which manages the Princess Anne and Southampton General Hospitals as well as other services in the city.

Gertie walked up to collect her certificate and £100 prize to a chorus of cheers and enormous applause from the packed out crowd at Novotel Southampton.

Speaking afterwards she said: “I’m delighted to win.

I’m really pleased I am appreciated for what I do and I still enjoy doing it even at my age.

“I mean to carry on volunteering for as long as I can.”

She was nominated by her daughter Lorraine Bryon, who added: “I’m really, really proud of Mum. It’s great she still wants to get up every day and go out and do something like this.”

To cap off her night Gertie was presented with an official badge by the Mayor of Southampton Sue Blatchford at the end of the ceremony.

Gertie was born in Lotzen in what was then East Prussia. She moved to England in 1949 after she met her husband, Robert Broom.

The couple married in 1949 and lived in Derby Road before Robert passed away in 1986. During her working life she was an assistant at Ordnance Survey and joined the hospital League of Friends in 1985.

Endoscopy nurse practitioner Iva Ivanova was the runner up, scooping £50.

Iva, 40, said: “I did not expect this at all and I am really grateful to Gill Watkin for nominating me for this huge honour.”

Gertie and Iva were two of seven Echo award nominees, with pet therapy dogs Max and Lady Poppy one of the stars of the evening, drawing a special round of applause when posing for their closeup at the end of the night.

Among the other awards presented were the employee of the year, which went to associate practitioner Lorraine Roberts, who was described as a “shining example for everyone to follow”

by host and trust director of nursing Judy Gillow. And the team of the year prize was awarded to the radiotherapy multi-disciplinary team for creating a DVD to help teenage and young adult cancer patients.

This year’s guest speaker was Major Paul Spanner, of the Royal Marines, who was treated at the hospital in summer 2013 after a near fatal cycling accident. He thanked everyone at Southampton General for helping save his life.

Trust chief executive Fiona Dalton closed the ceremony by praising everyone for their hard work, adding: “Do not underestimate the impact you have made. You are an inspiration and an example to everyone.”

HOSPITAL HEROES AWARD WINNERS

Southampton Solent University Chief Executive’s Employee of the Year
Winner: Lorraine Roberts, associate practitioner, ward G9, division B
Runner up: Nanda Basker, pharmacist, oncology pharmacy, division C

Medirest Team of the Year
Winner: Multi-disciplinary team – radiotherapy DVD for teenage young adult cancer patients
Runner up: Respiratory high dependency unit (RHDU), division B

Chairman’s Award for Leadership
Winner: Amanda Barnes, divisional head of nursing, division A
Runner up: Dan Bayliss, consultant, elderly care, division B
Sponsored by Jane and Martin Bovey

City College Southampton Education and Training Award
Winner: Kim Sykes, PICU consultant, PICU, division C
Runner up: Amir Qureshi, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and postgraduate education lead, T&O, division D

Hempsons Equality and Diversity Award
Winner: Equality and Inclusivity Network voluntary committee members
Runner up: Anne Cato, second vice chair as community link for Equality and Inclusivity Network

Healthwatch Patient Experience Award
Winner: New Forest Birth Centre housekeeping team, women & newborn, division C
Runner up: Medicines information centre team, pharmacy, division C

Patient Safety Award
Winner: Emergency department and security teams, division B and Trust HQ
Runner up: Centre block theatres, division A

Southampton Hospital Charity Star Award
Winner: Neil Pearce, Brian Stedman and the PLANETS team
Runner up: Ward C3 Hamwic fundraising team, cancer care, division A

Wheatsheaf Trust Gift of Time Award
Winner: Grace Chaplin
Runner up: Celia Clements

NHS Professionals Unsung Heroes Award
Winner: Melanie Peck, senior administrator, anaesthetics, division A
Runner up: Marion Rood, Macmillan support worker, cancer care, division A

Research & Development Team Clinical Impact through Research Award
Winner: Dr Kim Orchard, Director of Wessex Blood and Marrow Transplant programme

NHS Innovations South East Innovation Award
Winner: Professor Karen Temple, Clinical Genetics
Runner up: Jeni Bell, Admiral nurse clinical specialist, medicine for older people

University of Southampton Research Individual or Team of the Year Award
Winner: Lower GI / IBD research team

The Daily Echo Reader’s Choice Award
Winner: Gertie Broom, League of Friends volunteer at the Princess Anne Hospital
Runner: Iva Ivanova, nurse practitioner, endoscopy, division A