Castle Medical Group in Ashby has marked International Nurses Day.

The Burton Road surgery posted a photo of some of its nursing team on its Facebook page.

And the following message was alongside the picture: "It's International Nurses Day and we would like to celebrate our wonderful treatment room team at Castle Medical Group.

"This is just a small group of our team. Our wider team includes advance nurse practitioners, nurses, health care assistants, phlebotomist and pharmacist.

"Our team provides great care to our patients with kindness and compassion.

"We are very blessed to have such an amazing committed team."

There are over 9,700 highly skilled nurses in Leicesterhire working in a wide variety of roles and locations, including in GP practices, hospitals, in the community and in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

During the pandemic, nurses have been playing an instrumental role in the response to COVID, providing expert care 24/7, as well as vital expertise on a successful local COVID vaccination programme.

Caroline Trevithick, Executive Director of Nursing, Quality and Performance at Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups, said: "Today marks International Nurses Day at a time when nurses and nursing has stepped up to the biggest challenges of our lifetime.

"Nurses have had a leading role in both the response to COVID and the COVID vaccination programme, seeing many previously retired nurses coming back to the role to support the NHS.

"Nurses are fully integrated in our health and social care infrastructure and have an integral role in the health and wellbeing of our population.

"We should all be proud of the role we play and celebrate being a nurse today and every day."

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth.