Trekking miles through snow to get to work, walking around villages in sub-zero temperatures to take blood and hitching a ride on a tractor - these are just some of the amazing steps Cumbria's health staff have been taking to ensure patients get the care they need.

To celebrate the local NHS heroes, two Cumbrian health trusts have devoted their weekly Glimpse of Brilliance award to all of those staff who took on the Beast from the East - and won.

They also use the opportunity to thank the people out in the communities who pitched in to help staff wherever needed.

Here are the stories they have shared:

  • The radiotherapy team at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary trekked through the snow to ensure all their patients received their vital cancer treatment with no cancellations.
  • Brenda, a retired member of the team at Carlisle's Rowanwood mental health unit, with over 40 years of experience, walked four miles through the snow so not to ‘let her patients down’.
  • Alex and Stuart from medical engineering went to the aid of several people who could not get up the exit slopes of the Cumberland Infirmary staff car park. They spread grit, drove cars for those who weren’t so keen and redirected them to safer routes. A member of staff said: “It was heart-warming to watch and I’m very proud of them as colleagues.”
  • Interserve staff and sub-contractors CC Build at the Cumberland Infirmary have been tirelessly clearing and gritting the paths outside for staff and patients to get in safely from the car parks.
  • Dave Allen at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary brought his 4x4 vehicle to work and helped stranded staff in the car park.
  • Adele Mitchell, advanced specialist physiotherapist, had car problems on the way to work but carried on by walking the two miles on foot.
  • Some staff stayed overnight at Cumberland Infirmary and Carleton Clinic in Carlisle, working on call or just to ensure they could get to work the next day.
  • Many of the Copeland district nurses sat in queuing traffic for up to two hours to get into work - then continued their journeys onwards to ensure patients received visits.
  • The Community Rehabilitation Teams in west Cumbria changed their ways of working, walked to bases and then out to patients, shared lifts and were dropped off by colleagues in 4x4s.
  • In Kirkby Stephen, Andrea Clegg and Jennifer Davies made it to a residential home via tractor thanks to farmer Josh Brunskill.
  • Community teams at Hilltop Heights in Carlisle contacted patients to make sure they were okay and made arrangements to visit if necessary. This included long, slow car journey, treks on foot and staff not on duty seeing patients close to their own homes so others didn’t have to travel.
  • Kirkby Stephen Mountain rescue assisted the Appleby District Nursing Team with visits to ensure patients were seen safely.
  • Great partnership working from Cumbria Health on Call (CHoC) saw their drivers help community nurses reach patients in Eden.
  • Helen Greenhow, community staff nurse, in Keswick walked to surrounding villages in blizzard conditions to take urgent bloods. Team lead Yvonne Henderson joked: “I have the best team in the world - and they are all getting the recommended 10,000 steps in.”
  • Other community teams have had clinics cancelled but have turned up anyway to help out on wards.
  • In the Wigton and Solway area, district nurses have been using their connections with local farmers to reach patients on tractors.
  • Lisa Wharton, district nurse, was taken by local farmer Simon Richardson from Appleby surgery on an eight-mile round trip. They travelled through 4ft snow drifts on tractor before Lisa returned to Appleby and reached the rest of her patients on foot.
  • The Penrith district nursing team braved the severe weather with mountain rescue volunteers to care for a patient.
  • Specialist health teams gave telephone advice and support to those that couldn’t get out of their own homes and villages.
  • Community psychiatric nurses Martin Bennet and Duncan Weston, from Carlisle, visited patients in Longtown who had missed medication due to the weather.
  • In Brampton the hospital was able to maintain safe staffing levels thanks to support from mountain rescue volunteers, who managed to collect a nurse who was unable to get to work.
  • The Contact Centre teams at Cumberland Infirmary were inundated with calls from patients cancelling appointments. They had 403 calls in 90 minutes and dealt with clinic cancellations as staff couldn’t make it in.
  • In west Cumbria, administration teams walked or drove through snow to their bases to check in with the front line staff, make sure they were safe, co-ordinate reports and telephone patients.
  • Behind the scenes, support staff in all departments and on all sites have been working to help keep services running.
  • And finally: Staff and patients on Edenwood Unit at Carlisle's Carleton Clinic enjoyed a day making snowmen together!