A nurse who took a special trip to get a picture of a dying patient’s pet dog has won national recognition.

Rosemary Campbell was looking after an elderly woman who while living out her last days on a ward at Worthing Hospital.

The woman was desperately missing her pet dog Mutty (left), which had been placed in kennels but the upset woman did not know where.

Ms Campbell decided to find the animal and straight after a night shift started calling round local kennels.

She eventually tracked the animal down and gave up on her sleep to drive to where the dog was and get a photo of it.

She then framed the picture and gave it to the patient the same day.

Ms Campbell said: “It meant an awful lot to her. I gave it to her and she had tears in her eyes, and she kept stroking the picture.

“She kept it on her bedside table until unfortunately she passed away, but at least she had her dog with her.”

Ms Campbell, 52, from Sompting, won Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust’s employee of the month award.

She was then nominated for, and won, NHS England’s 6Cs Story of the Month.

Cathy Stone, Western Sussex Hospitals’ director of nursing and patient safety, said: “We are very proud of Rosemary’s actions.

“She did something really genuinely amazing which didn’t require many specialist years of training or advanced technologies. It was a unique response to the needs of the patient and, whilst she couldn’t save her life, she could enable the patient to feel safe and live out her last days contented and at peace.

“Her story has touched many staff at the trust.”

Head of acute and older people at NHS England, Marie Batey, said: “Rosemary’s story stands out because she acted directly on her human responses to a fellow dog lover – a deeply compassionate response.

“I know this account will ring true with many other colleagues across our professional groups and it reminds us of the quote that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”