{"id":254455,"date":"2026-01-20T15:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/254455\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:20:16","slug":"nottinghamshire-nhs-trust-used-charity-funds-for-leaving-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/254455\/","title":{"rendered":"Nottinghamshire NHS trust used charity funds for leaving party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768389008_752_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ba0325e0-f52c-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"BBC A man in a suit, paisley tie and black-rimmed glasses\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>BBC<\/p>\n<p>Chief executive Ifti Majid apologised to staff and said the money was not a good use of charitable funds <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">An under-fire NHS trust has apologised after using money from charitable funds to throw a leaving party for its former chairman. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Cash from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust&#8217;s charitable operations was applied for and used to help organise the event in December for former chairman Paul Devlin, who left the trust earlier this month.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The mental health trust was involved in the care of <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-nottinghamshire-68080872\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Valdo Calocane<\/a>, a paranoid schizophrenic who killed Barnaby Webber, Grace O&#8217;Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in the Nottingham attacks in June 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In correspondence to staff seen by the BBC, chief executive Ifti Majid apologised and said: &#8220;I accept this was not a good use of charitable funds.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768389008_752_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/95d6cc90-f526-11f0-ba75-29a1bdf58498.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A sign by a roadside which reads HIGHBURY HOSPITAL NO A&amp;E - THE NEAREST A&amp;E DEPT. IS AT QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTRE - IMAGES ARE BEING MONITORED FOR THE PURPOSES OF CRIME PREVENTION AND PUBLIC SAFETY. Another sign reads NO SMOKING SITE.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The trust runs a number of mental health facilities, including Highbury Hospital in Nottingham<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In a statement to the BBC, Majid apologised again and said using the money was a &#8220;mistake&#8221;, and the sum had been given back to the charity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Devlin, who took up the role in 2020, served two three-year terms as chairman and handed over the reins to Tom Cahill earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It is understood the trust used \u00a3249.50 from the charity, which is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk\/charity\/\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">currently fundraising<\/a> for therapies for the mother and baby unit and peer support work for people living with dementia. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The news comes following a recent Care Quality Commission report, which said the trust&#8217;s leadership <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cpdy1nld72eo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8220;requires improvement&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Inspectors also found a &#8220;challenged&#8221; financial picture at the trust, with a forecast deficit of \u00a346.8m at the end of the 2025-26 financial year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">This came after a <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cn47mm7ggv0o\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">damning 2024 report<\/a>, which the Nottingham attacks victims&#8217; families said demonstrated &#8220;gross, systemic failures in the mental health trust&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In January 2024, it was reported more than <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-nottinghamshire-68078609\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">30 members of staff across the trust<\/a> had been suspended.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Clarified the rules&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Majid had intended to retire from the trust on his 60th birthday in October, but the trust previously said he would <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cx2pylyzz2zo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">stay in post for the Nottingham attacks public inquiry hearings<\/a> before leaving in June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;We did apply to charitable funds to pay for an open staff and partner leaving event, which many clinical and non-clinical colleagues from across the organisation, as well as local healthcare partners, were invited to,&#8221; he said in a post to staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;In hindsight, I&#8217;ve listened to everything you said, and clarified the rules around this, and I accept this was not a good use of charitable funds. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;The executive team is personally reimbursing the full amount on behalf of all those who attended. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I am grateful for colleagues speaking up about this, can absolutely understand your frustrations and would like to offer my apologies.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBC Chief executive Ifti Majid apologised to staff and said the money was not a good use of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-254455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}