A nurse won national praise from health bosses for her “deeply compassionate care” of a patient.

Rosemary Campbell, 52, pictured right, was looking after an elderly woman who, while living out her last days in Worthing Hospital’s Buckingham Ward, was desperately missing her pet dog Mutty.

Mutty had been placed in kennels but the concerned patient was not certain where her beloved companion was prompting this week’s Argus Local Hero Rosemary into action.

After finishing a night shift at the hospital, Rosemary immediately began calling local dog kennels in the hope of giving her patient one last glimpse of her pet before she passed away.

She eventually tracked Mutty down and, foregoing sleep, drove to the kennel, took a photo, got it developed, framed it and returned to the hospital that same day to give the picture to her patient as a gift.

Rosemary, from Sompting, 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.”

Rosemary, who has worked on Buckingham Ward for 14 years, won Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust’s employee of the month award.

After winning the accolade, she then won NHS England’s 6Cs story of the month, which see tales of caring excellence pubished across the NHS and by the Nursing Times.

Rosemary said: “It’s unbelievable. It was part of my job, looking after the old lady and her feelings, and for them to recognise it is wonderful.

“I am really shocked to get an accolade from NHS England and the Nursing Times, but very, very proud.”

Cathy Stone, director of nursing and patient safety at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 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.”

To read Rosemary’s story, visit www.6Cs.england.nhs.uk and search for story of the month.

Hundreds of heroes go almost unnoticed in our local communities.

But The Argus is determined to give them the recognition they thoroughly deserve.

We have teamed up with housing repair and maintenance company Mears for our weekly Local Hero Awards.

We are inviting readers to nominate their candidates and tell us why they have put them forward for the award.

Contact Ben Leo on 01273 544682 or email ben.leo@theargus.co.uk