Lottery win celebrations turn flat after NHS bosses ban workers from cracking open the champagne

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated: 14:33 EST, 7 May 2011

A group of hospital workers were delighted to discover that they’d won £1.3million on the National Lottery, but weren’t so bubbly after killjoy NHS bosses banned them from sparking open champagne to celebrate.

The 30-strong syndicate matched all six numbers in the Lotto draw on Saturday 30 April, winning £1,339,367.

The all-female group work at the Lady Home Hospital in Douglas, Lanarkshire, have been playing the lottery since its launch in 1994. 

Killjoys: Nurses from Lady Home Hospital in Douglas hold bottles of champagne before NHS bosses ordered them to remove them due to NHS guidelines

Yesterday the delighted winners stood side-by-side as they told how news had reached them of their £44,645.57 a head windfall.

But NHS officials stopped the celebrations being marked with the traditional opening of bottles of bubbly after they said it broke strict rules.

The group had been handed glasses of fizz to toast the win but were forced to hand them back due to rules blocking them drinking in uniform.

One onlooker said: ‘The ladies were in a party mood and were all set to toast their lucky win.

‘Everyone of them had been given a National Lottery champagne flute and bottles of bubbly were being passed round.

‘But at the last minute the staff were all left looking pretty disappointed when the fizz was yanked back off them and they were told to pour the glasses away.

Julie McLuckie (pictured) and her co-workers from Lady Home Hospital matched all six numbers in the Lotto draw on Saturday 30 April 2011

‘It seemed pretty petty and even patients who were watching from windows looked baffled by the decision.’ The syndicate is made up of nurses, clinical support workers, cleaners, kitchen and office staff whose winning numbers were 1, 6, 12, 29, 36, 44.

Julie McLuckie, 39, a staff nurse and the syndicate leader, discovered they had won when she checked the numbers on her iPhone on Monday after a weekend away in Oban.

She found that they had two winning tickets - the jackpot and a £48 ticket that matched four numbers.

Julie, of Lesmahagow, who has led the syndicate since November last year, said: ‘The boss has told us she isn't accepting any resignations but we all love our jobs. This is a very special place.

‘Celebrations are being planned and family shopping lists include holidays, new windows, cars and a camper van for me.

‘Winning the jackpot has been a wonderful uplifting experience in these tough financial times. With the surname McLuckie I am thanking my luck stars.’ But Julie also admitted she felt sorry for the former syndicate leader who had retired from the hospital in December.

She added: ‘There are seven members of staff in the hospital who are not in the syndicate.

‘They have all been absolutely fantastic and have been sending us cards of congratulations.

‘However the person I feel most sorry for is the lady who was in charge that retired in December.

‘She had been part of it for several years and has just missed out by a few months.

‘I am sure the girls might get her a little something.’ Jan Drife, 58, of Crawfordjohn, is the group's longest serving member of staff, and she told how she plans to treat her granddaughter with her winnings.

She said: ‘I couldn't believe it when Julie said we had won all the money. When she said £44,000 I thought she meant between us all.

‘One of the first things I'll be doing is buying my granddaughter Rosie a swing.

‘We haven't had a chance to celebrate properly yet because all the girls are on duty at different times.

‘But I'm sure we will get something arranged.’ A NHS Lanarkshire spokeswoman said they were a 'health promoting organisation' and had a strict no alcohol policy at all their sites.

The NHS Lanarkshire community hospital has 22 beds and provides rehabilitation and end-of-life care for patients.

The last syndicate unveiled in Scotland was the Road to the Isles filling station in Fort William who scooped a £146,658 share of the Lotto jackpot in January.

Former hospital worker John McGuinness, won a £10million lottery jackpot in 1997.

The former porter invested a large chunk of his fortune in football club Livingstone FC and ended up bankrupt.