NOTTINGHAM Panthers can look forward to a few days' deserved rest after a see-saw game of five powerplay goals saw them snatch a last-gasp 5-4 overtime victory against sister-club Braehead Clan in Glasgow.

Short-staffed again through injury and suspension, their mammoth stint of eight games in 15 days has clearly taken its toll.

But they can go into their short break with another win behind them after Matt Francis netted the sudden-death winner just three seconds before the end of overtime

Although taking a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period, Panthers found themselves trailing when Clan hit back to lead.

The visitors pulled it level as the middle session closed and regained the lead at the start of the third.

But Clan equalised again and after a string of needless penalties, the game went into overtime before that dramatic winner from Francis.

Panthers iced the same team that comprehensively defeated Belfast 8-3 at the NIC on Tuesday, apart from defenceman Steve Lee, who is recovering from a broken nose suffered during that game.

Joe Jensen was seeing out the last of his three-game ban so Panthers were playing an import down.

Braehead also had import problems despite last season's leading scorer Ash Goldie being back in the line-up after missing 13 games since injuring a knee against Edinburgh back in October.

In a game full of penalties, the first powerplay came Clan's way in the eighth minute, Tom Norton off for interference, but Panthers – who have the worst penalty-killing record on the road in the league – saw that one off and in fact went closest to scoring shorthanded through Francis.

Successive penalties to Clan's Sam Zajac and Ed McGrane saw Panthers have plenty of pressure but no real goal attempts.

However, with Clan back to four players, Panthers' powerplay finally clicked with Kalus setting up Farmer (14.44) to score against his former club. Francis got the additional assist.

And less than three minutes later with the boos from the home fans still ringing in his ears, Farmer drilled in a shot which was tipped home by Salters for a 2-0 scoreline (17.11)

Whenever Clan did manage to string together a move of note, Conway was holding firm and despite losing Farmer to a late hooking penalty, Panthers went in at the first break two goals up.

Braehead came out looking to pull a goal back on the powerplay but shots from Goldie and McGrane were comfortably dealt with as the visitors got back to full strength.

But almost four minutes in, Panthers found themselves shorthanded again when Salters was harshly penalised for boarding by referee Rab Cowan.

And the home side duly took advantage with Goldie's shot through bodies eluding Conway to make it 2-1 (25.15).

Panthers had another powerplay opportunity after 27 minutes but after failing to set up any pressure, that was negated when Farmer was again penalised.

And when Clan got back to full strength they levelled if up with another powerplay strike, Joe Cullen on the mark in the 29th minute.

With their eighth game in a fortnight, and with a badly depleted defence, tiredness was always going to be an issue for Panthers but they had to ride out this second period pressure.

And they were hardly getting any favours from ref Cowan who was then quick to penalise Kalus for slashing in the 31st minute.

But goaltender Conway was enjoying a fine game and he came up big once again to twice keep Goldie at bay.

However, Clan made their pressure tell to take the lead with Lee Esders drilling one home in the 33rd minute to get the partisan crowd on their feet.

Two minutes later, another powerplay came Panthers' way but their endeavours of the previous two weeks clearly showed as they failed to put together anything of note.

But in the dying seconds of the period, Panthers levelled it up out of the blue with Kalus tipping in from a goalbound shot from Lachowicz.

Panthers would, however, start the final period shorthanded once again when Francis reacted to a clear late hit by Zajac on Lachowicz.

Thankfully Panthers killed that powerplay and then went on one of their own in what was fast becoming the Rab Cowan show as the ref called Kenton Smith for interference.

But Panthers didn't mind this time as they re-took the lead with a well-worked powerplay strike from Chris Capraro (44.43).

Once more, though, they were penalised with Farmer again beating a trail to the penalty box and Clan scored their third powerplay, Goldie getting his second of the game (49.20) to make it 4-4.

The penalties continued to flow and when Jonathan Weaver was mysteriously penalised with three minutes remaining, the Panthers defenceman also got a misconduct penalty for complaining.

Inevitably, another penalty followed to Clan to even things up and the game went into overtime.

But then, with penalty shots looming, Francis swooped to net the sudden-death winner with just three second remaining.

ROADWORKS are planned at a main junction on Nottingham's ring road today.

Resurfacing work will take place in Aspley Lane at the Western Boulevard junction from 7am until 6pm.

Aspley Lane will be closed at the Western Boulevard junction while the work takes place. The southbound section of Western Boulevard will also be reduced to one lane during the works.

Bus diversions will be in place via Nuthall Road and Melbourne Road, with motorists told to expect moderate delays.

FUNDRAISERS have handed over £5,000 to the Nottingham Hospitals Charity to help patients of the future.

The money was collected by Nottingham Breast Cancer Support Group during the past year from a string of fund-raising efforts.

Events included selling knitted Easter chicks, a bucket collection at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, and donations from Slimming World members, as well as individual donations from supporters.

It also included money from the sale of cards at the Nottingham Breast Institute and donations placed in collection tins at the institute, which is based at Nottingham City Hospital.

Jackie Wheeler, chairman of Nottingham Breast Cancer Support Group, said: "Our fundraising is an ongoing project and we are very grateful to all those who support us."

The recent donation will pay for equipment at the Nottingham Breast Institute, which will enhance care for breast cancer patients, including Flowtron boots, which improve blood circulation in the legs and help prevent blood clots from developing following surgery, and Doppler machines, which can help diagnose blood clots.

GRIEVING mother Susie Barrington told an inquest into the death of her daughter that she believed prescription medicine she was taking must have affected her adversely.

Emily Barrington, 20, was in her second year studying sociology at the University of Nottingham when she was found dead in her room in a shared house in Lenton on Sunday, February 3.

Toxicology results were consistent with an overdose of beta-blockers and aspirin.

Emily was also prescribed a contraceptive to treat polycystic ovary syndrome, a common condition affecting the ovaries, the inquest in Nottingham heard yesterday.

She was described by her mum as a "very loving", always fun and naturally empathetic.

"She went to Africa when she was 18, when she finished her A-levels. She raised £3,000 to go and we did loads of car boot sales. She went to Africa for one month," Mrs Barrington said.

"She loved to run, horse riding and skiing. She was a strong fit girl, very determined when she set her mind to things. She was loved by people who met her and really warmed to her."

Her daughter came to Nottingham in September 2009 to study nursing but later switched to sociology.

"She just loved it," said Mrs Barrington. "She was a people's person and it is the study of people from a different perspective. It was intellectually challenging and I think she enjoyed that."

Mrs Barrington, a trained counsellor, placed three framed photographs of her smiling daughter around the courtroom and explained to Dr Liz Didcock, Assistant Coroner for Notts, where they were taken.

Mrs Barrington said that in the year before Emily died, she had a panic attack, was very tearful, expressed negative views about herself and looked thinner than normal and very anxious.

Mrs Barrington Googled the contraceptive drug Emily was taking after a friend's daughter become depressed.

She said she found disturbing online reports about young women becoming depressed and suicidal.

"I told her to tell your doctor you are having an adverse reaction to your medication," said Mrs Barrington.

"She didn't find it easy to talk to doctors. When she did, she wrote it down."

She later added: "I feel that the drugs must have affected her adversely."

She claimed that one possible side-effect of an anti-depressant her daughter had been prescribed was to stop people caring about them selves or about other people they loved.

Emily wrote down what she wanted to say to her doctor because she was unable to say it aloud. She described herself as being in "unbearable pain and agony" and said she had been getting very anxious, very often.

She added: "This has been bad for a long time. A lot of bad things have happened."

Her University of Nottingham Health Service doctor, Tim Baker, said Emily was very tearful and anxious when he saw her. He prescribed beta-blockers, encouraged her to see a counsellor she had previously visited and gave her antidepressants.

Dr Baker added that he did not think that the contraceptive Emily was taking was causing any significant problems.

The inquest was adjourned last night until Friday.

THE chief executive of the East Midlands Ambulance Service has issued a resounding message to patients and staff – "we can change".

Sue Noyes has committed to enhancing the organisation's reputation and pledged to hit response time targets.

Mrs Noyes' appointment comes after a turbulent period for the service. It has missed response time targets and a number of serious incidents have been highlighted to the Trust board.

Concerns about EMAS' performance culminated in a risk summit last month to consider patient safety and resulted in an action plan to deliver improvement - with a further review of performance due in the new year.

Mrs Noyes has been brought in to deliver this plan.

She said: "We have had a period of instability. My role is to take the organisation through a quality improvement programme."

"It focuses on improving performance, clinical safety and focuses on things for the future.

"I'm very clear that's my role. It's a significant challenge, but one that's doable. My view is that for all parts of the organisation need to work to the best of their abilities."

Mrs Noyes is also keen to tackle the issues of low staff morale and lack of engagement that have blighted the organisation in recent years.

She said: "I have been out and about – the staff say things like they don't want to be like we are – we want to go back to the EMAS we were proud of. I'm here to rebuild the reputation. The vision is to take it forward.

"I've been to Beechdale and I'm going to Stapleford next week.

"My staff are very committed and very motivated and it's about what's getting in the way of them doing the job they joined the service for."

She added: "There's more work to do - we're recruiting more members of staff and we've also talked about putting more hours into the service as well and that's what we're going to be doing over the winter.

"I'm very clear - we're tackling it with the combination of things. It's not just about the front line staff it's about every part of the organisation."

Two major issues facing EMAS are the number, and severity, of serious untoward incidents reported and failure to attend the most serious life-threatening calls within a targeted time.

In March, the Post reported that investigations had been launched into serious incidents, which in some cases had led to patient deaths.

At that time, a report listed 27 serious incidents – and in 13 of those people had died.

And the latest figures show the service missed targets for responding to serious calls – for the fourth month in a row.

EMAS is supposed to answer category Red 1 and Red 2, the most serious life-threatening calls within eight minutes 75 per cent of the time, but the service failed to meet the targets, attending only 69 per cent of calls within the time.

And Mrs Noyes said the issues would be taken seriously and challenged.

She said: "I can give them a personal commitment that my role is to see the organisation through a quality improvement programme - we are planning to hit these response times at the end of next quarter - that's what we are working to do.

She added: "No serious incident is acceptable but we do like to see what we can do to improve things.

"We do take them very seriously - we investigate them thoroughly and I personally see the responses."

Mrs Noyes also confirmed the organisation would be looking to appoint patient and clinical representatives to the Trust's board.

"It's a personal objective of mine to enhance our reputation," she said.

A member of Healthwatch - an organisation representing patients in the area - will be appointed to the board, as well as a representative clinician from EMAS and possibly a local GP.

Healthwatch Nottinghamshire's Chair Joe Pidgeon welcomed the move.

He said: "It's got to be a welcome move but it needs to be somebody who can actually have a critical view.

"It's a good development but they have to be prepared to exercise a distance and a neutrality and not be pulled in."

THE East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has faced a number of problems in recent months and years.

In March, the Post reported that investigations had been launched into serious incidents, which in some cases had led to patient deaths.

At that time, a report listed 27 serious incidents – and in 13 of them people died.

EMAS recorded 53 "serious incidents" in 2012-13 – a six per cent increase on the previous year.

Earlier in the year, a report by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission raised concerns over patient care and The Trust employed more than 100 extra staff as a result.

The trust has employed126 more front-line workers, a mixture of paramedics and emergency care assistants, by the end of the year.

In October, EMAS was called to crisis talks over concerns about persistently poor response times to emergency calls, patient safety and the handling of patient complaints.

The service produced an action plan aimed at tackling the issues and will be subject to further assessment in the new year.

The 46 page plan included a management restructure at a cost of nearly £50,000, £750,000 allocated to increased staffing, with a 20 per cent increase in overtime and 200 hours per week staffing from other ambulance services and £18,500 allocated to implementing an ambulance car system for non-emergency Green 3 and 4 calls.

In November, the chairman of EMAS resigned after two-and-a-half years in the role.

Jon Towler was the third senior figure in the organisation to leave in the space of three months.

His resignation followed the departure of chief executive Phil Milligan in August and Mark Gough, its first chief operating officer, in October.

DETECTIVES investigating claims of abuse at former Notts children's homes have made a new arrest – and say the number of alleged victims has increased.

Officers also say the claims now cover alleged incidents at six former council-run homes, instead of five.

The huge investigation, code named Operation Daybreak, is examining allegations of sexual or physical abuse against children in now-closed homes.

The claims stretch from the late 1960s until 2000.

Daybreak covers alleged abuse by staff at Beechwood Community House, Mapperley, Bracken House, which was in Thames Street, Bulwell, Ranskill Gardens, Bestwood, Wood Nook, in Beechdale Road, Beechdale, and Risley Hall, Derbyshire.

A Notts Police spokeswoman confirmed a sixth former home, which used to operate in the city, had now been added to the list. It cannot yet be named for legal reasons.

Notts Police also said yesterday that a man had been arrested in connection with an alleged historical serious sexual offence at Beechwood.

He was detained and questioned last month then released on bail pending further inquiries.

Police say the number of alleged victims is now 64, up by three since September.

Five other people have previously been arrested were all released with no further action.

The update came as a council issued an apology to one of the alleged victims after it emerged his care files had apparently been destroyed in the 1970s.

Michael Summers, 59, says he suffered physical and emotional abuse at Beechwood and was later moved to another home in Nottingham where he claims he was molested.

A social worker then later raped him in a car, he claims, and he also alleges he was physically abused at another Notts home and at Risley Hall.

He had asked both Nottingham City Council and Notts County Council for the release of his files to help his case.

But the records, kept by the county council on behalf of the city, have not been found.

Under current regulations, records must be kept for 100 years but this was not the case when Mr Summers was in care.

Anthony May, corporate director for children, families and cultural services at the county council, said: "Despite an extensive search for Mr Summers' child care files, we have been unable to locate them.

"There is a note on our records from 1978 which says the files have been destroyed.

"The rules regarding retention of files were different then and we believe we had no legal obligation to keep them.

"However, we have found some references to Mr Summers in other general files and have shared these with him.

"That said, it would certainly help us and Mr Summers if we could find his child care files."

He added he had both telephoned and written to Mr Summers to apologise.

"I regret sincerely any distress that we have caused to Mr Summers because we cannot find his files," he added.

Mr Summers waived his legal right to anonymity in July as an alleged victim of a sex offence in an attempt to encourage other potential victims to come forward.

He grew up in The Meadows before going into care and today lives in New York.

He said: "I accept the apology in part – but I still want someone to be held accountable for destroying them.

"I want to know who authorised their destruction."

AN elderly man was left "very shaken" after another man threatened him with a knife and tried to rob him in The Meadows.

The victim was walking towards his car behind the Bridgeway Centre, when the attacker ran at him. He grabbed the victim's coat but a passing dog walker disturbed him and the attacker fled towards Burge Close.

It happened at about 5.50pm on Wednesday.

The suspect is described as white, aged between 25 and 30, around 5ft 10in and ofa medium build. He was wearing a green coat and a grey or light brown peaked woollen hat.

DC Laura Clapham, of Meadows CID, said: "This was a despicable, cowardly attack on an elderly gentleman."

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Clapham on 101 ext 8536460, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.