‘Some patients have told me I belong to the zoo. I still treat them with love and care... and I won’t stop’
NURSE TELLS OF SHOCKING RACIST ABUSE SHE HAS RECEIVED AT WORK
A BRAVE Derby nurse has come forward to reveal truly shocking levels of racial abuse directed at her by patients in her care.
The experienced Royal Derby Hospital nurse, who has given her first name as Elita, says she has been subject to numerous racial taunts from patients during her career.
In a shocking video, released by the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, Elita revealed that in some circumstances she has to leave the building due to the hurtful nature of the abuse directed towards her.
Hospital bosses in Derby say they will do whatever it takes to address the problem of racist abuse towards staff and will deal with it head on.
Elita, who has worked at Derby’s main hospital for more than 20 years, said: “I’ve had patients come to me and said ‘is there somebody else who can look after me – I don’t like the looks of you, are you sure you’re qualified enough to do this job’ – obviously because of my skin colour.
“I have been a registered nurse for nearly 23 years. I have had patients that have come to me and stated ‘is there anybody else that can speak English.’
“I have had patients come to me and stated ‘your kind belong to the zoo’ and I’ve had to leave after such incidents.
“I have had patients who come to me and say ‘you are dirty, you can’t look after me’ and I’ve informed them, ‘in what way do you state I am dirty’ – go and wash yourselves others would say.
“It has been a challenge but in the midst of all of this I still do what I do with love and respect and care and I will not stop doing it – because it is what I love to do.
“I am very proud to be the nurse that I am today.”
Staff at Royal Derby Hospital are being urged to inform their line manager if they receive or hear any racial abuse at the hospital.
Cathy Winfield, executive chief nurse at Royal Derby Hospital said: “I give my full support to Elita and all our other colleagues.
“We are going to do whatever we can to face this head on and to educate and support our staff and our local communities to understand that racism will not be accepted or tolerated here.”
These latest revelations come just weeks after the Derby Telegraph reported how a nurse came forward to say he suffered racial abuse on one of the hospital wards. Aldarico Jr Velasco, a staff nurse at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, says the patient shouted at him before hurling the expletive-ridden abuse on Saturday, January 30. Over the weekend, Derby County announced striker Colin Kazim-Richards was subjected to racist abuse on social media after the team’s 1-1 draw against local rivals Nottingham Forest.
It has been a challenge but in the midst of all of this I still do what I do with love and respect and care and I will not stop.
Elita
THE husband of a “very caring and dedicated” Derby teacher has paid tribute to his wife after her death from cancer.
Mannie Hayer, who lived in Littleover for 38 years, taught in schools for almost four decades, specialising in special needs education.
Throughout this time, Mrs Hayer, who died on Friday, February 19, aged 64, was an incredibly popular educator who touched the lives of many of her students, according to husband Gian.
Mr Hayer said: “My wife was a very caring and dedicated teacher. She helped loads of students during her life. She would do anything to support her pupils, always going out of her way to make sure they were happy and doing well. If they needed anything, she was always there.”
Mrs Hayer was born in Punjab, India, on June 5, 1956 and moved to Essex at the age of 10 when she could speak only two words of English – yes and no.
Despite this, through hard work and dedication, she went on to train and qualify as an English teacher, joining Friesland School in Sandiacre in 1982. It was in the same year that she married Mr Hayer, a fellow teacher specialising in sciences. The couple went on to have three sons,
Sukhraj, Jaspal and Amar.
After a couple of years at Friesland she moved to the Derby Language School, before turning her attention to helping students with special needs at what is now known as the City of Derby Academy.
Eventually she ended up at Derby Moor Academy, where she spent around two decades supporting pupils with learning difficulties, before finishing her career with short stints at George Spencer and Littleover School.
Mr Hayer said she was a hugely positive influence wherever she went, making an impact on those she came into contact with on a daily basis. He said: “Her students always appreciated her and what she did for them. I know she will be hugely missed by lots of pupils. She will be a big loss and a very sudden loss for so many.”
Mrs Hayer spent the last few months of her life in a short and shocking battle against cancer.
After suffering pains in her chest in December last year, Mr Hayer said his wife had a phone call with her GP and was told to try Gaviscon to relieve the pain.
When this failed to work, and the pain spread to her abdomen, they had a face-to-face meeting with their doctor, but no issue was diagnosed.
Then, in January, Mrs Hayer visited a private health centre for an ultrasound scan, which found she had an enlarged liver.
Following a series of further CT scans and doctors’ appointments over the next month, Mrs Hayer was eventually told she had stage four cancer in her liver, bowel and lungs.
Over the next few weeks her condition deteriorated rapidly, and on Friday, February 12, she was told the cancer had spread further, causing her kidneys to fail and there was no cure. She died a week later.
Mr Hayer said he was left devastated and has yet to fully come to terms with the loss of his “phenomenal” life partner.
He said: “I couldn’t believe how rapid and aggressive the cancer was. I’m just trying to get my head around it. We had just retired, our plans were to travel. She always wanted to travel and I’d said, ‘Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.’ I was wrong.”
A memorial service is being held at Trent Valley Crematorium today and those wishing to attend virtually can do so using a web link.
The Hayer family are also accepting donations to RSPCA Derby and District and Treetops Hospice in memory of Manni.
A COUPLE who were found romping in a Derbyshire lay-by have been fined hundreds of pounds by Derbyshire police who considered their trip non-essential.
The pair were discovered by officers from Derbyshire police in Morley, near Derby, on Monday night.
Much to the couple’s embarrassment, when police looked inside the car they found the pair naked. The officers’ presence quickly spoiled the romantic mood.
After putting a stop to what police described as “rumpy pumpy” the amorous pair each got £200 fixed penalty notices for breaching lockdown rules as well as a cannabis warning.
Details of the incident were revealed on the Erewash Response Unit Twitter page.
It said: “Morley – undisclosed country lay-by. Nothing ruins a little bit of late night ‘rumpy pumpy’ quite like a couple of Covid tickets and a cannabis warning.”
It is the latest in a number of Covid fines given out by police to couples found getting intimate after dark.
Last month, police in South Derbyshire fined a couple, one of whom was from West Yorkshire, after they met in a car park at a reservoir for a tender get-together.
The same month a love-struck boyfriend was fined after driving 100 miles to have a “peck in a Peugeot” with his girlfriend at a Derbyshire beauty spot.
HEARTWARMING photos have shown a dog bottle-feeding a newborn calf which has been rescued and taken in by a Derbyshire family.
Penelope was hypothermic and at serious risk of dying after being born on a frozen lake near Alfreton.
But after being rescued in the bucket of a digger, she has now moved into a family’s pet-filled home on the 100-acre Carnfield Hall estate, in South Normanton.
One of the family’s labradors sleeps next to her and even helps out bottle-feeding the calf.
Heidi “HP”, who lives on the estate with her vet partner Graham Oliver, and their boys, recalled how Penelope was rescued from the lake.
She said: “We couldn’t get her out as mum was being super protective.
“The large animal rescue team had been dispatched from the local fire service, but whilst they were en-route, Graham and his son Tom worked to distract mum, and drag the calf from the water using the bucket on a JCB.
“Tom carried her to the house to clean and warm her. We returned her to the field in the hope mum would not reject her.
“Mum not only rejected her, probably because we’d washed her scent off, but made a serious attempt in killing her. And she tried to attack us too when we tried to rescue Penelope for the second time. We used quad bikes to get in and out quickly and brought the calf to the hall to be hand-reared.
“She refused to accept milk, so her
Algernon sleeps next to the calf
Dougie Oliver, four, gives Penelope a hug first feed of colostrum was given via a stomach tube.
“The following day, she became weaker. A local farmer, helped us introduce Penelope to a temporary surrogate mother.
“Once she accepted the milk, we began combining the surrogate’s milk with formula, until Penelope was accepting a bottle.
“Our black lab, Algernon, couldn’t help but get involved and likes to help out with the bottle-feeding. He even lets Penelope have his bed and sleeps next to her to protect her.”
Heidi went on to reveal the family’s plans for Penelope as she grows. She said: “She’s now settled really well at Carnfield. Georgia (Tom’s girlfriend) has assumed the role of mum and is managing amazingly! Both our dogs and cats accepted her straight away and they all play together – although toilet training a calf is a bit of a problem.
“I’m not sure what the plan is for the future. Her horns will grow and she won’t be able to fit through the front door, so we need to start planning!
“We are thinking to integrate her with the llamas. Either way, she’s made friends with the children, the dogs, and with all of us.”
PUBLIC outcry is mounting against plans for a colossal solar farm on fields near a Derbyshire town.
More than 400 residents have submitted objections to Amber Valley Borough Council over the plans which would see 310 acres of solar panels built on fields from Alfreton towards Oakerthorpe.
German-owned firm Kronos Solar is behind the planned project, which it says would generate 49.9 megawatts of electricity each year – enough to power 11,500 homes.
However, hundreds of residents are now formally opposing the plans due to the potential loss of a huge swathe of green open space which defines the area around Alfreton – which they feel will redefine and harm it forever.
The idea of a huge influx in sustainable energy in the borough is welcomed, but not if it includes losing vast areas of farmland and outdoor space, which has shown its endless value during lockdown, objectors say.
Residents would prefer the solar panels to be mounted on homes or buildings and, if they are to be groundmounted, to use derelict former industrial and brownfield land instead.
The plans will eventually be decided later this year by borough councillors.
If approved, the development would be split across a main plot above Alfreton Park Community Special School and Alfreton Hall, and a smaller plot just to the east of Shirland Golf Club.
A substation would be constructed off the B6025, opposite the Alfreton Sewage Treatment Works.
A decision on the plans will be made by borough councillors in the next few months.
Also opposing the plans are: South Wingfield Parish Council; Alfreton Town Council; Amber Valley MP Nigel Mills; Cllr Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire County Council; and the Peak and Northern Footpaths Society.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is holding back its view ahead of a range of further investigations, including what it calls the “serious omission” of a wintering bird survey and lack of evidence to support the claim that the fields have “negligible” ecological value.
Cllr Lewis, who is also a North East Derbyshire district councillor, said in a video statement last week: “It causes me a great deal of concern. It will affect the setting of Amber Valley and I also believe that it is the wrong way, in terms of direction of travel, for these kinds of development.
“We all want to be greener, we all want renewable energy to be at the heart of energy production in our homes, but this is the wrong sort of approach to this, I believe.
“I don’t think this development is the right way to go, it is going to affect huge swathes of countryside and the beautiful setting that we live in here in the Amber Valley will never be the same again, for the length of the licence at that.”
The footpaths society says the development would have a “devastating effect on the enjoyment of walks, as would the replacement of green fields with rows of solar panels”.
Alfreton Town Council has submitted a lengthy response to the plans, saying: “This area is the only countryside available to the town of Alfreton and it would be a great loss to the residents if the area was used for such a development.
“The recent pandemic has highlighted the valuable and regular use of these footpaths, promoting and fostering good mental health.
“A less intrusive, alternative option would be to utilise the roof space or footprint of existing industrial buildings and estates, brownfield and open spaces on wasteland and industrial estates.
“This application offers no compensation for any detriment to the area.”
Wingfield Parish Council has objected to the plans, saying: “The amenity value of the footpaths through the application site would be entirely lost, and that of the surrounding footpaths greatly diminished due to the change from a beautiful rural landscape to an industrial one, with high fences and security cameras adding to this negative impact.”
Kronos says it hopes to start construction next year, if approved, with the site becoming operational from summer 2022.
The firm hopes to keep it in place for 40 years, until summer 2055, after which it will be dismantled and returned to agricultural land.
James Owen, head of UK business development for Kronos, said the site is one of four currently under development by the firm around the UK.
This includes another potential site in Derbyshire, covering 168 acres just outside the Chesterfield suburb Hasland, alongside the A617.
Mr Owen said the firm would provide funding to invest in public amenities.
The firm says: “The use of this land for solar energy, along with the continued agricultural use by the grazing of sheep coupled with biodiversity and landscaping enhancements, should be considered an acceptable development proposal as there will be no loss of any higher-grade agricultural land.
“The benefits of delivering renewable energy are substantial and far reaching, both for current and future generations.”
It also comments on how the borough council declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and as such “will ultimately lead the council to set priorities that favour solar developments and alike”.
We all want to be greener... but this is the wrong sort of approach to this, I believe
Cllr Barry Lewis
NEW interior signage has gone up at Derby’s biggest shopping centre as part of its ongoing re-brand.
Earlier this year, the city shopping centre was renamed as Derbion by its new owners Cale Street, Investments.
The centre was taken over by Cale Street in September, following the collapse into administration of property giant Intu.
This week, new branding has appeared within the centre, with signs for Intu Derby replaced by those showing the new Derbion logo.
Signs have been installed inside the centre, and in other locations such as entrances and exits, and car parks.
Adam Tamsett, general manager at Derbion, said: “We’re really excited to unveil our brand-new interior signage, which is visible throughout the centre in key locations such as our entrances and exits, and car parks.
“Our new name and changes to our signage are just the beginning of a programme of investment we have planned for Derbion.
“Our new identity gives us an opportunity to build on our existing
offer, creating new exciting experiences for visitors to enjoy in the heart of the city. We look forward to announcing more details very soon.”
Bosses say the name Derbion brings together the centre’s geographical
location and a sense of motion, inspired by the city’s history of ingenuity and innovation, coupled with an ambition to continually move forward and evolve.
Much of the branding installed inside the centre features the tag lines “people are at the heart of Derbion” and “life in motion”.
The exterior signage is set to be installed in early summer to complete the centre’s rebrand.