TO many of us the local GP is a waiting area and a doctor’s office where you go to with aches and pains and worries about your health.

To Denise Shaw the staff at the local GP surgery are her life support and ‘Guardian Angels’.

Denise, from Bishopstone, Hereford, is a full time carer for her husband who has been ill for many years.

And the question is, who cares for the carers?

In Denise’s case it is the ‘wonderful’ Dr Robert Sykes and the ‘amazing team at Staunton-on-Wye GP surgery.

Being a full time carer can put you in a lonely and frightening place, says Denise, especially in a pandemic lockdown.

But through it all Denise says she knows she can rely on her doctor and local surgery for reassurance and comfort.

Her GP helps her to look after her husband and give him the care he needs, but also is vital for Denise’s own wellbeing.

For Denise it is vital to know that ‘always at the end of the phone is help if ever I needed it. All the staff are kind, caring and supportive.

“That friendly caring voice can be a lifesaver.

“My GP is my saviour, my life support, a guardian angel. In many ways it is the reason I am still able to smile and face the world and make the most of the life I have got.”

Denise has nominated the her local practice, which also has a surgery at Weobley, for the title of GP Practice of the Year in the Hereford Times Health and Social Care Awards.

  • Does your GP practice provide the sort of service that Staunton does? Do they deserve special recognition? Or do you know other care heroes?

If so, you can nominate them quickly and easily online at https://www.herefordtimes.com/awards/healthandsocialcare/

Entries are open until August 21.

The categories are: Health Care Team; Care Hero; Care Home Worker; Domiciliary Home Worker; Good Nurse; Care Trainer; Child and Adolescent Health; Dementia Carer; Palliative/End of Life; Mental Health; Health Care Employer; GP Practice of the Year