Derbyshire Times news bulletin 24th November

Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley

Transcript

00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.

00:03 A bereaved mum who believed that her miscarried baby's remains had been sensitively disposed of

00:09 has been told by Chesterfield Royal Hospital that the infant's body had actually remained in its mortuary for over a year.

00:16 The devastated mum was given the news over the phone this week,

00:19 having believed that her baby had been buried or cremated after she miscarried last August.

00:25 After receiving the phone call, she also received a letter of sincere apology from the hospital's Director of Midwifery.

00:31 She has now made arrangements with funeral director Michael Fogg to have her baby collected and given at a dignified funeral.

00:38 Kevin Sargon, who is Medical Director at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said,

00:44 "We are aware of the matter and extremely sorry for what has happened.

00:47 It is always a tragic situation to experience such a loss and I pass on my sincere condolences to the family.

00:54 We have written to the family concerning the investigation that we are conducting.

00:58 We can't comment further on the outcome of this until we have concluded,

01:02 but we offer assurances that we are taking this extremely seriously

01:05 and will continue to liaise with the family to support them at this difficult time."

01:12 A leading Chesterfield hospitality boss has criticised the government's decision to raise the minimum wage again from April 2024,

01:19 saying it will heap more pressure on a sector already hit hard by inflation and reduced customer spending.

01:25 In his autumn statement this week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the minimum wage is to increase by £1.02,

01:32 setting the new rate at £11.44 per hour for workers over the age of 23.

01:38 Hourly rates for the ages 18 to 22 and apprentices will also see comparable hikes.

01:45 While this will no doubt be welcomed by around 2.7 million low-paid workers struggling with the cost of living,

01:51 responsibility for delivering the increase will fall on employers' balance sheets.

01:56 Steve Perez, owner of Chesterfield's Casa and Peak Edge Hotel said,

02:00 "The problem we have is that all of our costs have gone up and the minimum wage will have gone up by around £2 per hour since 2022.

02:08 How can hospitality afford this without big price rises or job losses?"

02:12 He added, "We will obviously pay, but it's going to be reflected in the cost of goods,

02:17 which mean people will go out less and spend less as it becomes more expensive to do so."