Nurses inspired by a Robert De Niro character have won an award.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has been recognised for the support it provides to new nurses joining Queen’s and King George hospitals at the Nursing Times Workforce Awards.

It was named Preceptorship of the Year after it developed a senior intern team to provide mentoring and coaching programme for new nurses, the first scheme of its kind in the country.

It was formed by the Trust’s chief nurse Kathryn Halford, who was inspired by the film The Intern, in which Anne Hathaway benefits from the wisdom and support of retiree Robert De Niro who returns to the working world as an unpaid junior.

Ms Halford said: “We were over the moon just to be shortlisted given there was such a high calibre of entries, so to win really was the icing on the cake.

“Supporting our new nurses is so important.

"I can remember when I first started out as a nurse, it can be disorientating on the ward for the first time and being responsible for your patients, so to have a more experienced colleague who can provide help and advice can make a huge difference.

"We’ve recently welcomed lots of new nurses to our Trust and had lovely feedback about this scheme, and it shows how we’re putting our staff first.”