Fury over 'hospital plaques in skip'

Plaques marking work done and money raised by a charity group for a Staffordshire hospital turned up in a skip, it is claimed. The two plaques date from April 21 1993.

They were put outside Cannock Chase Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit to mark a £50,000 donation the Cannock Hospital League Of Friends raised. Margaret Winfer, aged 72, was running the league's charity shop in the cabin on the hospital car park on Beecroft Street when a man came in, bringing the plaques, and saying he found them in a skip on the site.

Mrs Winfer, of Stafford Road, Cannock, a league volunteer for nearly 27 years, said: "About a fortnight ago a man came into the shop, I didn't know who this man was, but he brought the plaques in and said he found them in the skip.

"I'm really disgusted that the plaques had been chucked away, it's upsetting after 26 years' raising money for the hospital that something like this happens.

"I wonder why they have done it? To think we've worked all that time for that to happen, it gets my heart.

"They shouldn't throw things like that away, when we've given them money.

"We used to have garden parties, door-to-door collections we worked hard and used to enjoy it. We don't seem to enjoy it now."

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust head of marketing and business development, Helen Perren, said: "We value the donations made by the Cannock League of Friends and the generosity of the people of Cannock.

"Many plaques commemorating donations of equipment, funding for facilities pictures and other gifts are displayed at the hospital.

"The trust is currently carrying out refurbishment to a number of areas at Cannock Chase Hospital and we are genuinely sorry if a plaque has been incorrectly removed when it should have been resited.

"In the near future we are looking to develop a scheme which will include a listing and note in a book that will be publicly available recognising all new donations made to our hospitals."

Over 30 years, the league raised more than £1million. They helped get equipment such as scanners, beds, heart monitors, surgery equipment, laser technology and a breast screening suite costing £27,000 and basic items for patients.