Policy Research Media Morhamburn

You might have thought you were in some sort of parallel universe. There was the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon praising the Daily Record newspaper. Stranger things have happened perhaps. Maybe, but not very often.

It wasn’t a parallel universe and she did say thank you to the Daily Record in front of a big audience.

It was at the Scottish Health Awards in Edinburgh. The founding and sustaining role of the Daily Record in these awards is enough for even the paper’s greatest critics to suspend normal hostilities (for a wee while) and acknowledge that they have backed a winning formula.

Yes there’s lots of glitz, glamour and frocks. And, yes, it’s an awards ceremony. But it is a different one from the usual hack/politico/well-paid-professional-of-the-year event.

What makes it different is that that people being nominated and putting on their best outfits and taking their Mums and Dads and partners and colleagues to see if they’ve won are the people who really make the NHS work. Often, they are nominated using the form in the newspaper by patients and service users rather than colleagues. Nobody nominates themselves.

The Scottish Health Awards ceremony is a real feel-good event with the recipients of the awards genuinely moved by the fact that not only have they been nominated but they have actually come through against stiff competition.

Everyone looks good at an event like this. Ministers, sponsors and, particularly, the nominees and winners. In hearing about the nominees, you also hear about some of the innovation and dedication being witnesses in communities from Shetland to Stranraer.

The NHS in Scotland is not perfect. It will continue to offer opportunities to deliver new things and in different ways – which is good news for us. But there’s a lot to shout about. Or, put another way, there are a lot of NHS people whose working lives are worth celebrating 365 days a year.