Bosses at a scandal-hit NHS trust in Nottinghamshire have been shamed into paying for a leaving bash themselves after initially using cash from a charitable fund.

Money from the Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust's (NHFT) charity was used to organise an event, including a buffet, for departing chair Paul Devlin last week.

The charitable fund is often used to improve services for patients and frontline staff, and is currently running appeals for mother and baby and mental health units.

The indulgence drew claims of hypocrisy by workers across the organisation who were recently told discretionary spend - non-essential costs - was being suspended as its financial position "continues to worsen month on month".

Earlier this week, NHFT, which runs the county's mental health services, was told its leadership "requires improvement" following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The trust has been tied up in multiple scandals in recent years, the most prominent of which was failures in the care of Nottingham Attacks killer Valdo Calocane.

"People retire from the NHS all the time but people bring in their own food. That's people on minimum wage," one member of staff told Nottinghamshire Live

The worker, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said he and colleagues were "disgusted" by the revelation during a trust-wide monthly briefing on Thursday, January 15.

"People were saying 'I can't believe what I just heard, this is disgusting'. It seems a misuse of charitable funds.

"We have fuddles and retirements and people bring in £5 or £10 of their own money.

"This is money that has been raised for patients for anything from food and magazines to iPads."

In the wake of the staff outrage, chief executive Ifti Majid said on Friday, January 16, that the executive team would reimburse the full amount, said to be £300, on behalf of the event attendees.

Mr Majid said: “I can confirm that we did apply to charitable funds to pay for an open staff and partner leaving event for our departing chair, which many clinical and non-clinical colleagues from across the organisation, as well as partners from other local health organisations, were invited to.

"In hindsight, we accept that this was a mistake and the executive team is personally reimbursing the full amount on behalf of all those who attended. We have listened to colleagues’ feedback and understand their frustrations and offer our sincere apologies.”

An NHFT spokesperson said the leaving do was "well-attended" by junior and senior colleagues.

Mr Majid, who has headed up the mental health care provider since December 2022, is retiring after he gives evidence to the Nottingham Inquiry in June 2026.

The Nottingham Inquiry will look into how agencies, such as NHFT, failed to prevent paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane's killings of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in June 2023.

NHFT is running £4.4 million behind a recovery plan, according to recently-published documents.

The trust was running a £17 million deficit by the end of October - the seventh month of its financial year - despite it putting in place a financial recovery plan to slash its costs.

She scrolled through documents on her mobile at home

An experienced Nottingham midwife has been struck off after admitting to snooping through the records of more than 1,200 patients without permission.

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Victoria Reed scrolled through the documents while at home on a mobile device, intruding on the private information of trauma, intensive care and neonatal patients, a tribunal was told last year.

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The incidents happened between September 2020 and September 2021.

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The former band six midwife, who worked at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs both the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital also admitted to being dishonest during the investigation, initially claiming she had accessed 87 records.

Ms Reed, who has since left her job, was originally suspended from the profession for 12 months following a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing in January 2024.

However, last Tuesday (January 6) her case was put back before a panel, who decided to strike off the former midwife.

Ms Reed was found to "remain liable to repeat matters of the kind found proved", documents said.

"The panel considered that you have had a year to provide evidence of improved insight and strengthened practice and have not adequately done so."

Ms Reed, who joined NUH in 2002, was found out after a member of staff saw her login had been used for a patient who was not in her care.

She was suspended by the trust before an investigation found 87 records were accessed inappropriately between September 11 and 14, including adult intensive care patients, adult trauma patients, neonatal patients and a coroner referral.

Ms Reed admitted to this in a meeting with an investigation officer, but claimed she had not accessed any before that period.

However, a wider probe discovered that 1,214 patient records were accessed inappropriately by the former midwife, including those of 640 trauma in-patients, 387 adult intensive care unit patients and 97 neonatal patients.

She looked at the records through Nervecentre, an electronic patient record system used by NHS hospitals. Ms Reed offered no explanation for what the panel described as a "clear breach of confidentiality".

Addressing the panel last year, Ms Reed said she didn't "actively source" the records or know any of the patients affected.

She said she "recognised the seriousness" of the incidents and accepted she had "betrayed the trust" of the patients.

Ms Reed, who now works as a housekeeper at a health spa hotel, said she started an online data protection course four months after leaving NUH, which was "more in-depth training" than that undertaken as a midwife.

Sharon Wallis, director of midwifery at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “NUH take patient confidentiality extremely seriously, and we have strict - and clearly communicated – guidelines in place around data security.

Speaking previously, Sharon Wallis, director of midwifery at NUH, said: “Nottingham University Hospitals take patient confidentiality extremely seriously, and we have strict - and clearly communicated – guidelines in place around data security.

“As soon as the issue came to light, we immediately launched an internal investigation. Following conclusion of that investigation, the Nursing and Midwifery Council were informed as the professional regulators.

"We can confirm that Ms Reed no longer works for the Trust. We encourage all our staff to report any breaches. In addition, all our staff must complete mandatory training on data protection annually, and failure to do so is immediately flagged with their senior manager.”

Latest Nottingham Forest transfer news as Reds sanction January window departure

Nottingham Forest youngster Jamie McDonnell has completed a permanent move to Oxford United.

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The 21-year-old had been due to spend the season on loan at Mansfield Town but his spell with the Stags was cut short earlier this week. He has now linked up with the U’s for an undisclosed fee.

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The midfielder spent more than five years with the Reds’ academy, having joined from Glentoran in 2020, but did not make a first-team appearance for the club. He spent last term on loan at Colchester United.

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Head of football development and talent management at Forest, Craig Mulholland, said in a statement posted by the club: “We are excited to see Jamie take the next step in his career in a deal which is good for Jamie, good for Oxford, and provides us with a significant return on investment. It will also provide us with considerable benefits as Jamie progresses at Oxford, or should he move on in the future.

“Everyone wishes Jamie well, he will always be welcome back at Forest and we have no doubt, with his outstanding attitude, a clear trait of a Forest player, that he will have a successful career.”

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McDonnell made 25 appearances for the Stags in the first half of the campaign. Mansfield boss Nigel Clough has admitted it was a blow to lose the Northern Ireland international.

Clough said on Saturday: “Forest recalled him on Thursday with a move agreed to a Championship club. They have agreed a fee.

“We always knew it would be a possibility in January as he has done so well. “So we thank him for his time with us and wish him all the best at his new club.”

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Speaking to Oxford’s official website, McDonnell said of his move: “I’m very excited to be here and to get started at Oxford United. It’s a club full of ambition, and that was really important to me as I sign a long-term deal.

“I feel I’ve learnt a lot from my loan spells and grown with every step I’ve taken so far. I’m ready to challenge myself at this level now and give everything for the team.”

Latest Nottingham Forest news as Reds goalkeeper Matz Sels discusses 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the City Ground

Goalkeeper Matz Sels is delighted to be back in the Nottingham Forest starting XI after a spell on the bench.

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Reds head coach Sean Dyche recently opted to stick with Brazilian John Victor for a run of games, despite Sels being available again after injury. But when John sustained a knee problem during the 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa earlier this month, Sels got the call from the bench.

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The Belgian has retained his spot since then and celebrated a clean sheet against league leaders Arsenal on Saturday. Meanwhile, John is facing a period out of action after undergoing surgery.

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"This is football,” Sels told TNT Sports when asked about his experience of being a substitute. “I was injured and they won that game so the gaffer told me he wanted to keep going with the same team. I worked during the week to show I was ready for when my chance came back.

"We did well last week (against West Ham United) and in this one (against Arsenal). It is always a team effort. I'm really happy for me, for the team and the whole of Nottingham Forest.”

Sels made three big saves to ensure Forest claimed an important point against the Gunners. It was a superb performance all round from the hosts in their 0-0 draw, on the back of some below-par displays of late.

The Reds, and Sels in particular, looked much more like the team of last season when they upset the established order by finishing seventh in the division. They find themselves battling at the opposite end of the table this time around, but Sels is confident they can build on their impressive showing against Arsenal.

The 33-year-old admitted he was aware relegation rivals West Ham United had closed the gap by beating Tottenham Hotspur prior to Forest’s game kicking off. The point Dyche’s men gained leaves them five clear of the bottom three.

"We need to have confidence,” Sels said. “We need to look at ourselves, not at the other teams around us, and try to take the points - especially at home.

"The support was amazing. We need to keep going in the next home game and give the supporters what they deserve because they were amazing last season and have been so far this season as well.”

It is one of Nottingham's most important employers

Nottingham's biggest success story, Games Workshop, is investing millions into its city headquarters as it continues to make huge profits.

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The multi-billion-pound business, which is known around the world for its Warhammer 40,000 miniatures, has been expanding its Lenton HQ in recent years.

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The company, which sells plastic models of fantasy soldiers and monsters assembled by millions of fans worldwide, has seen an incredible rise.

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Games Workshop is one of the 100 largest UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and, on Tuesday, January 13, announced it had made a record £140.8 million in pre-tax profits in the half-year to November 30, 2025.

Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop, outlined that millions of pounds had been invested during this period to improve and expand manufacturing at its Willow Road production complex.

"We have continued to increase our manufacturing capacity, the construction of our fourth factory in Nottingham is on track for completion in the summer of 2026."

New pictures show the shell of the new multi-million-pound factory, which replaced an old Nottingham City Council transport depot, appears to be complete.

Games Workshop's half-year results explained that more than £13 million had been spent in the company's city production centre.

This included £3.7 million for the construction of Factory 4, £3.7 million for moulding tools used to craft miniatures from plastic, and £3.4 million for manufacturing facilities and equipment.

Mr Rountree explained that the business had redesigned the layout of Factory 2 to accommodate more all-important injection moulding machines, in a bid to boost production and keep up with incredible global demand.

The huge tabletop gaming company also spent £2.3 million on improvements and maintenance to its Nottingham HQ site, including improved car parking facilities and roof repairs.

More than 350 staff currently work around the clock at the site's three operating factories to produce millions of sought-after figures every year.

Nottinghamshire Live previously reported that Games Workshop was moving forward with plans to open a new paint factory at Unit 18 of Easter Park, which is across the road from its Willow Road compound.

The company's half-year update to investors said the renovations needed to create this additional factory had been completed, with new office space built and manufacturing infrastructure installed.

The report added a new car park had opened next door to its component warehouse, adding 90 "much needed" spaces for Nottingham employees.