NHS STAFF at Ilkley Coronation Hospital were left with no means of heating up their lunch when their old Merrychef microwave oven finally gave up the ghost.
The microwave, which has an unusual pop up door mechanism guaranteed to make visitors to the hospital jump as it suddenly rattles open, has been proving temperamental for some time. Agreeing who should replace it, however, proved no easy matter, since the hospital staff work for several organisations, and the building is owned and managed by a different organisation, NHS Property Trusts.
Staff put out an appeal through the Ilkley Chat Facebook page, and had an instant response from Janet Smith, MD of local company Twenty Four Seven Nursing, who generously offered to buy a new one.
Lynda MacLeod, who has been a cleaner at the hospital for 32 years, remembers the old microwave already being in use when she first started working there, and has an album of old photos of the hospital and its staff dating back many years. A picture taken in 1989 of nurses Cath Bloor and Chris Wood clearly shows the microwave in the background.
If anyone has any information about when the microwave was purchased and how much it cost at the time, the hospital would be pleased to hear from them.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here