Ruth Wood won the national Practice Manager of the Year Award 2008 at a ceremony in London.

Mrs Wood works at Manor Park Surgery in Bramley, which was gutted in an arson attack in July, 2006.

The fire broke out on a Saturday afternoon and Mrs Wood rushed to the surgery to find 70 firefighters tackling the blaze.

"Even from the bits that weren't burnt down, we couldn't really salvage anything at all," Mrs Wood said.
"Then our main priority was the patients."

Dr Susan Elton, who nominated her, said: "She was absolutely pivotal in everything. Ruth even went into the building with the firemen while it was on fire to get out patient data – we did not lose any which was a near miracle.

"She was a hero."

Initially the surgery was given space in nearby Bramley Clinic and later used a temporary building.
"The patients were really good," she said.

"It's quite a close-knit community and they were so helpful. They would even patrol the site at night."

Just seven months after the blaze, staff were able to move back into their new building.

Her dedication to making sure the practice's 14,000 patients did not go without healthcare led to her winning the UK-wide award.

She even supervised the rebuilding of the surgery while also organising
GP appointments in a temporary building.

Mrs Wood said she was surprised to be nominated for the award.