What are YOUR views on this

Panos · THE SWEET INNOCENT WIZARD OF US

What are YOUR views on this

Panos · THE SWEET INNOCENT WIZARD OF US

Here is the article to the above link but go and read some of the comments which are after the article on the weblink

GEORGE MICHAEL TICKETS 'SNATCHED': CLAIM

06:50 - 09 July 2007

A group of nurses at Derriford Hospital claim that free tickets they were offered for George Michael's Home Park concert were "snatched" up by administration staff.The group of eight health workers, who contacted the Herald, say nurses were not able to easily access the tickets, and many did not find out about them until after the concert.

George Michael, right, gave away more than 1,000 tickets to "staff at the local hospitals" for his concert at Home Park on June 19.

The star, who did not want any publicity about the gesture, often gives away free tickets to local hospitals as a way of saying thank you, after nurses cared for his mother, who died of cancer in 1997.

For his Plymouth gig, nearly 400 tickets were given to Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Derriford, and over 620 to staff within Plymouth Primary Care Trust, which runs community services.

The group of Derriford nurses, who wish to remain anonymous, contacted the Herald to complain about the distribution of the tickets, some of which they say went to administration staff.

A spokesman for the group said: "As a huge George Michael fan and a nurse, I was outraged to learn that administration staff in fact snatched hundreds of discounted tickets, made available to Derriford's nurses' as a big thank you from George. The system in which the tickets were made available was one that nurses could not easily access. Many of us were only aware of the donated tickets after the concert.

"However, these tickets were distributed amongst the friends of the administrative staff, who were non-NHS employees."

The hospital and PCT said the tickets were for "staff at the local hospitals" and not specifically for nurses.

George Michael's people only contacted the trusts the day before the concert, so the invitation was then emailed out to their staff, limiting tickets to two per person on a first come first served basis.

The star had also asked that £2 per ticket was donated to a trust charity or fund.

A spokesperson for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "George Michael had asked that we use the tickets to extend a personal invitation to the staff at the local hospitals to attend the concert.

"Given the tight timescale, the fairest, quickest and easiest way we could alert people was by e-mail.

"A number of staff made sure that their colleagues, who did not have access to e-mail or who may not have seen the message, were aware of the offer so they did not miss out on the chance to get tickets."

Corinne Shore, communications manager at the PCT, said: "With such short notice we wanted to let as many staff know as quickly as possible so they could consider childcare/diary arrangements and ensure the distribution and allocation was shared across staff groups within the PCT.

"Unsurprisingly there was a huge response from staff. As much as possible we tried to ensure that the tickets were shared across the PCT."

-- Edited by Panos at 17:40, 2007-07-09

Clare · the spanish wannabee

Good topic Debs..... & one which has caused quite a stir reading the comments...... I am totally in favour of all NHS staff, wether that be nurses, doctors, porters, lab techs, etc....etc.... or administration staff to be included in George´s generosity... my mum was, before her death, a medical clerk in an x-ray department in a huge hospital & worked extreemley hard, sometimes sitting at her desk eating lunch cos of the workload & in a tiny office you cud not have swung a bloody cat round in...... with no window even...

I myself worked within the NHS for six years & all NHS staff are part of an enourmous team no matter what job they do at the end of the day, they are all valuble people.

I do however think it is pretty disgusting that some people are capable of abusing George´s generosity, which at the end of the day is his way of showing gratitude to a valuble workforce, especially taking advantage of taking more tickets than entitled to or even more so selling them off!!!!!!!! It seems that the time factor of releasing the information was very short which makes it a bit unfair as word takes time 2 get round.... Maybe a better distribution plan is needed ..... ??????

Poor George sumtimes just can´t seem to win & his idea that 2 quid shud be donated to a charity is an excellent one.... Well dun George....

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

Well said Clare. I never thought the debate would head this way to be honest...I thought it would be "admin are pen pushers" blah blah!!

I agree that it should have been open to all nhs nursing staff.

Admin are so often (like your mother) walked all over in the NHS. I could tell you so many stories about what Ive seen with the nurses and how they leave the admin (not always but often) to do their work. Obviously I could get into trouble if I were to ever get caught saying anything so I won't but I will say I have pretty strong opinions on this subject!!

Good on the admin staff I say at this concert for getting the tickets for themselves. Its about time they had a perk of the job for a change seens as they are working as hard and in some cases harder than the nursing staff with often half the pay!

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

OOOH heck Ive caused a bit of stir on the site haven't I??? All hell breaks loose in Plymouth and its all my fault LOL LOL

Panos · THE SWEET INNOCENT WIZARD OF US

ruthieb wrote:

OOOH heck Ive caused a bit of stir on the site haven't I??? All hell breaks loose in Plymouth and its all my fault LOL LOL

Oh you naughty, naughty girl - causing trouble where ever you go

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

Less it you!! This is all your fault you know.

lol

Next time Im up your way Im going to report to A&E in your local hospital and ask for A NURSE because Ive got a broken nail!! See what theyve got to say about that then!!!

Panos · THE SWEET INNOCENT WIZARD OF US

I had suspicions that this was the kind of reactions this link would entice. Why do you think I posted it :)

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

All at my expense though!!

wishiwozkenny · THE QUEEN

great debate i heard that christies were given tickets for manchester and they sold them for £4 to raise money i havent heard of anyone complaining so assume it went smoothly distrubiting the tickets wish my profession was recognised too just because we are not nhs we are working alongside the district nurses running round collecting pescriptions coz its not in their job discription we work bloody long hours and always get forgotten so to all hca have a great day and george remember they are the ones who come out everyday to wash and care for people so they can stay in their own homes we do just the same without a ward

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

that is just the point I was trying to make when I got so rudely attacked lol

wishiwozkenny · THE QUEEN

ITS TRUE THOUGH YOU DO HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS RB LOL LOL LOL LOL AND I THINK A MAUVE COLOUR MAYBE AN OPTION FOR YOUR NAILS

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

LOL the cheek

Its not that Ive got the time - its the speed at which I work is what gives me the time!

ruthieb · WELSH STRUMPET

....and the ability to multi task!!!

I am often in meetings with Chief execs etc taking minutes while Im on the forums - indeed they think Im taking notes but Im not really - Im discussing George;s antics!! lol