'Heroic' Derbyshire nurses face five-day isolation after mercy trip

The nurses will have to isolate for five days on their return

Two "heroic" nurses from a Derbyshire care home have agreed to go into self-isolation so a resident can go home.

A court in London heard the mentally ill woman, who is in her 60s, wanted to return to her family in Poland.

The judge was told she need to be accompanied and the nurses had agreed, despite having to self-isolate for at least five days on their return.

Approving the plan, the judge said the gesture demonstrated "the sacrifices some of our nurses make".

Sacrifices 'appreciated'

Mr Justice Hayden was sitting at a virtual hearing in the Court of Protection, where judges consider issues relating to people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Lawyers representing the woman, who cannot be named, said she had lived in England for nearly 50 years.

Now she wanted to return to her family in Silesia, where relatives could care for her, and she could pay for her care.

The judge concluded such a move would be in her best interests.

"Self-isolation in these times is a challenge," he said. "But to do it for somebody else - that's heroic.

"I don't know if the public fully appreciates the sacrifices some of our nurses make."

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