06/02/2013 BBC News at One

The appalling suffering of patients at Stafford Hospital, a public

inquiry concludes sweeping changes are needed in the NHS. Hundreds of

patients were treated with a lack of care, humanity and compassion.

The head of the inquiry says many will find it hard to believe this

could happen in an NHS hospital. They were failed by a system which

ignored the warning signs and put corporate self-interest and cost

control ahead of patients and their safety. It's one of the worst

scandals in NHS history. Families of the victims say people should be

held to account for the hospital's failings. It's failings from the

ward right to the top, right to Whitehall. We are looking still for

resignations. We have lost hundreds of lives. People have got to be

held accountable within the NHS. The Prime Minister apologises to

the victims and their families for the horrific abuse that was allowed

to go unchecked and unchallenged for so long. What happened at the

Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2009 was not just wrong, it was

truly dreadful. Hundreds of people suffered from the most appalling

neglect and mistreatment. The other headlines - a huge fine expected

for the RBS, mostly owned by the taxpayer, for their part in the

LIBOR rate rigging scandal. Virgin Media is bought by the American

cable giant, Liberty Global for more than �10 billion, creating the

world's leading broadband company. I'm beneath an Italian mountain,

where scientists are on the hunt for one of the most mysterious

particles in the universe. Later, the biggest operation to crack down

on human trafficking and the Mayor says City Hall should be able to

keep all the money raised in London Welcome to the nuebz at one. It's a

story of appalling and unnecessary suffering, of hundreds of people.

Those were the words of the man who has led the public inquiry. In his

highly critical report, Robert Francis QC said patients were

failed by a system which ignored the warning signs and put corporate

self-interest and cost control ahead of patient safety. The report

calls for a fundamental change in the culture of the NHS, to ensure

patients are cared for properly. Dominic Hughes is at the hospital

now for us. This has been a long- awaited report, one that took more

than two years to deliver. It cost more than �30 million. The report

team gathered hundreds of thousands of pages of documentation. The

impact of this report will be felled not just here, but across

the NHS, because this is a report that seeks to secure a cultural

shift in how patients are cared for. The events have become one of the

worst scandals in the history of the National Health Service.

Vulnerable patients left in pain, unwashed and malnourished sh or

humiliated, lying if filthy bed sheet. A chaotic environment. Today,

the QC, Robert Francis, unveiled his second record into the terrible

events, revealing why those who should have prevented the disaster

failed so badly. This is a story of appalling and unnecessary suffering

of hundreds of people. They were failed by a system which ignored

the warning signs and put corporate self-interest and cost control

ahead of patients and theirivity. - - safety. He unleashed a searing

indictment of the management of the hospital, the role of regional

health managers and regulators and the Department of Health itself.

There was a lack of care, compassion, humanity and leadership.

The most basic standards of care were not observed and rights to

dignity were not respected. Elderly and vulnerable patients were left

unwashed, unfed and without fluids. They were deprived of dignity and

respect. Some patients had to relieve themselves in their beds

when they were offered no help to get to the bathroom. Among the 290

recommendations are a statutory duty of candour for all medical

staff to end a culture of secrecy in the NHS. The ability to

prosecute if a failing in standards leads to the death of patients. A

single regulator, meaning the two existing bodies would be merged.

Here the NHS is a -- here is a group trying to raise standards.

The founder of Cure the NHS says heads must roll. Everything we

heard today tells us this was systemic failings from the ward

right to the top, to Whitehall. We are looking for resignations. We

have lost hundreds of lives. People have got to be held accountable

within the NHS. There has been support from the highest levels of

Government, including a pledge to create a Chief Inspector of

hospitals to concentrate on respect and compassion in care. The Prime

Minister said today how shocked he was by the appalling suffering

patients had to endure. What happened at the mid-Stafford NHS

Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2009 was not just wrong, it was

truly dreadful. Hundreds of people suffered from the most appalling

neglect and mistreatment. There were patients so desperate for

water that they were drinking from dirty flower vases. The Foundation

Trust, which runs the hospital, has apologised for the poor treatment

patients had to endure. Staff say it's now a very different place

from five years ago. But the scandal that developed here will

now have implications across the NHS in England. The real test of

what follows this latest report will be whether a similar disaster

can be prevented from happening somewhere else. It's worth

repeating some of the words of Robert Francis, a lack of care,

compassion, humanity and leadership. That's how he characterised the

failures. This is no longer a story just about Stafford. The lessons of

this disaster will have to be learnt across the NHS.

We'll get more from Branwyn Jeffries who is in central London.

A highly critical report and clearly one tkha may well knock

people's -- that may well knock people's confidence in the NHS in

England? That's right. As the bells of Westminster Abbey peel out, the

family and ministers are digesting the details of the report which

tells in horrific detail of how things went so badly wrong. As

Robert Francis said, the public trust in the NHS was betrayed at

Stafford and it's going to require a change from the top to bottom.

Backed up, he thinks, by new legal requirement for openness, for an

end to secrecy, to prevent it happening again. He makes it very

clear that Stafford was not so rare or so unique a hospital that this

couldn't happen somewhere else. This prospect now that the NHS is

facing of an overhaul literally from top to bottom? An overhaul in

terms of regulation, if the Government accepts that

recommendation, which is going to go away and be considered. The

Prime Minister has already signalled that he wants to see

hospital managed by people who are held to account, not just for how

they handle money, but for the care and what the NHS is actually all

about. For looking after people when they are frail, when they are

ill, when they are vulnerable and when they should expect the very

best of care and not the worst. Thank you.

More now from Norman Smith at Westminster. The Prime Minister

apologised earlier to the families and victims of those who suffered

in this hospital. How will the Government go about addressing this

critical report? The Government is going to move and to move quickly,

because David Cameron views this as not a story about one particular

failing hospital, but a story about the way the NHS is run today. To

that end, he has announced in future hospital boards can be

dismissed for failings not just in financial management, but patient

care as well. He'll also say that where patients are unhappy with the

standard of care they receive in hospital, if enough complain, they

can trigger an immediate inspection. The Care Quality Commission is to

be given the power to launch criminal prosecutions, but most

significant, David Cameron announced in the last 30 minutes,

that those hospitals with the highest death rates will face an

immediate inspection. Downing Street are suggesting that could

amount to some 20 other hospitals that will now be inspected. That

reflects the fact that David Cameron views this as an issue

which reflects on the NHS throughout the country. It matters

hugely politically, because the NHS matters to people. David Cameron

absolutely knows there cannot be any repeat of Mid-Staffordshire,

because I imagine the public could be deeply unforgiving given the

nature of today's report. Cue go to the website for more on the story.

-- you can go to the website for more on that story.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is mostly owned by the taxpayer is

expected to be hit with a huge fine for its role in the LIBOR rate

fixing scandal. They may have to pay a �400 million penalty. The

Business Secretary says the taxpayer should not have to fit the

bill. InTed -- instead it should come out of bankers' bonus pots.

Over to Adam. This is a fascinating announcement we are expecting to

come out of the United States in the coming hour or so. We are

expecting fines of around �400 million coming the way of RBS. So

much of the argument will be why should something that was bailed

out by the British Government end up paying money to American and

Japanese regulators? We await with interest. Hugh Pym has been

reflecting on RBS's woes. It was a scandal that rocked the City of

London and caused a new wave of outrage about the conduct of

leading banks. Today, the spotlight is on the bank that was bailed out

and is still majority owned by the taxpayer, RBS. So who exactly will

pay the RBS fines owed to British and American regulators? The

Government has insisted that staff will have to shoulder their share

of the burden through cuts to their bonuses. The Chancellor made it

very clear a few days ago that if funds have to be paid they

shouldn't be paid by the taxpayer, or the customer, but paid by the

staff who are still pretty generously rewarded in that bit of

the bank, but we are dealing with a legacy problem here. The LIBOR

scandal led to Bob Diamond quitting Barclays last year. The chairman

and another senior emive left the bank. Their fines were just under

�300 million. At the end of last year, penalties on UBS were more

than three times that at nearly �1 billion. Today, it's the turn of

RBS. LIBOR is a key interest rate used in many economies as a bench

mark for consumers and businesses. It's based on submissions from

banks on their lending rates. Traders at some banks tried to

manipulate those submissions because they were betting on which

way the rates would go. It shows that there was some systemic

unethical behaviour over a long period of time. Some of the other

scandals were the whole thing tipped into overdrive and collapsed.

Because of something that happened over a fairly short period, that is.

This was going on for maybe, four or five years. That's the

difference. RBS won't be the last bank to settle with regulators.

Several other international institutions are being investigated.

City of London Police have made three arrests as part of their on-

going inquiries. Adam, Vince Cable says that the

taxpayer shouldn't end up paying this fine when it comes. He says

instead it should be bankers' bonus pots sfplt that realistic?

politician ever. Is that realistic? No politician ever lost votes by

saying that. But there are a couple of things being mixed up. We owned

almost all of RBS anyway. We own 81%, so it's our money that is

going to the bankers in the first place and it's our money that will

be used to pay the fines. The problem for RBS is this - when it

was bought out largely by the Government back in the middle of

the financial crisis, it used up a huge amount of money. The

Government could say they've had enough and get rid, but we stand to

Luzon today's figures around �15 billion. We have to persevere, but

it's having a horrible time. Not just this. Money being set aside

for PPI mis-selling and money set aside for the IT disaster that

collapsed, so it's leaking money left, right and centre. The money

used to pay the fines will have to come from somewhere. The problem is,

as the bank will say, if it takes all the money away from leading

bankers, most of whom were not implicated in this scandal, then

those people might leave, and the bank gets worse and that means we

are even more out of pocket. We await that announcement. It will be

around �400 million. That is a lot less money than the PPI mis-selling.

Thank you very much. Virgin Media have been taken over

by an American cable television company called Liberty Global in a

deal worth more than �10 billion. It creates the world's leading

broadband company. Virgin Media employs 14,000 people in the UK.

Mr Malone's cable firm Liberty Global is paying a high price to

control Virgin Media. Whose biggest rife is BSkyB where Rupert Murdoch

is the biggest shareholder. They have been scrapping over mayor

mayorious bits of -- various bits of media ownership for a long time.

It is going to be great fun for him to be competing against Rupert

Murdoch's prized asset in Europe which is Sky. Virgin Media in which

Sir Richard Branson only has a small stake has five million

customers and prides itself in having the UK's fastest broadband

service, but it has been in a battle for for TV customers with

BSkyB which has over ten million subscribers. After years in which

Britain's cable industry industry struggled under the burden of debts

and poor customer service things have improved since Virgin Media

was formed in 2006, but after paying so much, will the new owners

be able to afford to invest in further progress? Could virgin

compete with Sky for more more sports right, Liberty Global has

been playing down that prospect. Together this powerful combination

will enhance our position as the world's leading broadband company,

providing 25 million customers with video, voice and broadband services

across 12 European countries. A deal has to be approved by

shareholders and the regulators, but it looks as though a new

American force is about to join the battle for Britain's living rooms.

Scientists have identified the mysterious substance which caused

hundreds of seabirds to be washed up on the South Coast of England

last week. It is a chemical used by ships to make their engines work

more efficiently. Duncan Kennedy is on Chesil Beach for us now.

This has been a mystery over the past week or so, knowing what this

substance has been. This washed up along this beautiful stretch of the

South Coast and it has, as you said, affected hundreds of birds. Many of

them had been killed. Now, a team from Plymouth University has done

the experiments and done the an the analysis and it reckons it

identified what the chemical is. Coated by this unidentified sea-

borne contamination, hundreds of birds have been washed up on the

beaches of Southern England. The glue-like substance stuck to their

feathers, damaging their ability to fly. Many have been killed. Until

now, no one knew what the substance. At Plymouth University they have

spent the past week trying to analyse the chemicals to identify

them. That made carrying out detailed blood and other checks on

the birz the other checks on the birds.

All the data say this is chemical is PIB and it is a a lubricant and

it is transported around the world and used for a variety of functions.

Some of the birds are being cleaned with a mixture of soap and

margarine. In some cases, it has taken an hour or so to get rid of

the substance. The numbers of birds affected seems to have peaked and

now the question has gone from what the chemical is to where it came

Well, we spoke to the Maritime Coastguard Agency this morning,

that's the agency that monitors the waters off Britain and it tells us

that knowing what the substance is will help narrow the search for the

vessel involved, but in its words, it is going to be a complicated

task of identifying which ship dumped that material into the

waters off the South Coast here. Ted time is almost 1.20pm.

The inquiry into failings at Stafford Hospital calls for

sweeping changes to the NHS to prevent a repeat of the appalling

suffering patients endured. Get a chip or face a fine. All dogs

in England will need need to be Later on BBC London:

A former gang member turned film director has his film screened at

the BAFTAs. The BBC brings together over

200,000 publicly owned pictures All dogs in England will have to

have microchips fitted by 2016. It's hoped the new law will help

deal with around 100,000 stray dogs that are picked up every year.

Anyone found with a dog that has not been microchipped after April

2016 could face a fine. Jon Kay reports.

Just 13 weeks old, but it is a big day for Buddy. Time for him to be

microchipped. We are going to implant the chip just in the skin

at the back of the neck. We are going to inject that through the

skin and you are the bravest puppy in the world!

It takes a few seconds and costs �20.

It It and there is your chip. If Buddy is lost, a quick scan

should reveal that Olly is his owner.

When the technology is there, why not have that peace of mind? I know

he can run off, not that I'm going to let him run off, but he is more

likely to come back to me if that does happen.

This is what the Government wants to stop. Every year, 100,000 dogs

are lost or abandoned. There are nearly 100 just at this home in

Bristol. Well this little chap came in here

a couple of weeks. No microchip so they have got no idea where he came

from or who his owners might be. The Government now wants to

introduce compulsory microchipping in England. Owners who don't comply

could be fined �500. A similar scheme was introduced in

Northern Ireland last year and dog wardens there say it made a

difference. 95% of the dogs we lift are

microchipped and that's a a huge amount of dogs that's han han

returned to their -- what's been returned to their owners.

The Government wants to change the law so their dogs dogs can be

prosecuted if their dog attacks someone on private property. There

is no need to have a dog out of control and gives a bad name to the

rest of the dog in the country. Back at the vets, Buddy is ready to

go home. Animal charities welcomed today's news and say unless owners

keep their details up-to-date, meeting up with a dog could be

Spending on services like police, transport and defence could be cut

by a third within the next five years according to a report from

the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The influential think-tank warns

that current government spending plans might lead to 1.2 million

public sector job losses - 300,000 more than predicted by the

Government. Police investigating allegations of

child abuse at a guest house in south-west London during the early

1980s have arrested two men. They're the first to be detained as

part of Operation Fernbridge, the inquiry into claims that senior

political figures and others sexually abused boys at the Elm

Guest House in Barnes. More people are setting up their

own businesses with the number of self-employed workers up by more

than a third of a million since the economic downturn in 2008. The most

significant rise is among the over 50s. John Moylan has been examining

the figures. What do you do when a downturn

comes and you lose your job? According to Official figures many

more people are choosing to work for themselves to make ends meet.

Since the start of 2008, 367,000 people have registered as self-

employed. Remarkably, 60% of that increase has occurred since 2011

and 84% of the increase has been in those aged 50 plus.

Alan Matthews started his business last year. He sells protective

clothing for the engineering engineering sector. He struggled to

find work after being made redundant twice in recent years.

have thought, you know, several times in the past about running my

own business, but never really had that final push I guess and being,

you know, unemployed and 50 and struggling to find an opportunity

at the level that I was at previously before being made

redundant was that final push that made me think now is the time I

need to do this. . This rise in the number of people

working for themselves has helped to keep the unemployment figures

that bit lower and the employment figures that bit higher. But

economists warn that for every self-employed budding entrepreneur

out there, there are many more people who are simply struggling to

get by. We think for a significant group,

they will be earning low wages, eeking out a living in self

employment and the consequences are they will be paying less tax and

claiming tax credits when they would have been paying tax or the

national economy it is not a good thing.

Taxi driving, construction, even farming are amongst the top

occupations for those choosing to do their own thing. With no sign of

the economy picking up the self employment trend looks set to

continue. In a subterranean laboratory, a

mile under a mountain range in Italy, scientists are about to

start an experiment to try to find the first evidence of dark matter

which physicists believe makes up most of the universe. Our science

reporter, Rebecca Morelle, is there. Yes, that's right, it does seem

like we are in the midst of a layer. I am one mile underneath a mountain

and this experiment will be searching for some of the most

mysterious stuff in the universe, dark matter. The reason why we are

underground is because back up on the surface, the Earth is

constantly being bombarded with radiation from space, but the only

thing scientists want to see is dark matter so the mountain is

acting as a shield. They don't want a speck of dust from me which I'm

having to wear this suit. They say the rewards of all of this effort

Heading deep beneath a mountain. One-and-a-half kilometres down in

these specially constructed tunnels, the secrets of the universe could

be revealed. In this subterranean laboratory, a

new experiment could prove the existence of dark matter.

Scientists think that dark matter is all around us. Every second they

say millions of these particles are passing through us and everything

else. But just sometimes they will bump into something. And that's

what this experiment here is trying to spot. Inside, a detector will be

filled full of argon. As the dark matter particles stream through,

scientists are hoping one or two might collide with an argon at

tomorrow. This will generate a flash of light and provide the

first evidence of this hidden world. Today is one of the last chances to

to take a look up close. One a detector is lowered in, any

contamination could ruin the experiment.

If we did find dark matter, we would have solved one of nature's

best kept secrets. Most of the mass of the universe is in the form of

this dark matter. To really understand that and to know what it

is been something that will change our understanding of the universe

universe, the way it is formed and the way it is going to evolve.

Darkside is a number of new experiments in this field.

At the end we will have nothing, but the feeling is that the dark

matter can be just behind a corner. So everybody is rushing to be the

first to find dark matter. Understanding dark matter will help

to explain why our universe is the way way it is. Scientists believe

we are entering a new era of physics and dark matter is the next

Well, the next step is for this tank to be flooded out with water

and then the experiment will be switched on. It will take a month

or a year to get a glimpse of this stuff. The scientists say if they

do, the results could be Nobel prize winning stuff.

A group of whale watchers got a little more than they bargained for

when they paddled out to sea in a canoe while on holiday in Hawaii.

They had spotted whales from the shore and went to get a closer look.

It turned out to be a little too close for comfort as a humpback

whale launched itself out of the water clipping the front of the

canoe before disappearing again. Far too close for my liking!

Far too close for my liking! Now the weather.

We have got good spells of sunshine out there, but not everywhere. The

one thing that everywhere will see is a cold wind. A significant wind-

chill factor with that wind coming down from the Arctic. Yesterday's

weather, a weather front lurking out in the Atlantic. We have got

the cold northerly air stream pushing down across the United

Kingdom. One or two showers dotted around the tip of Cornwall. There

could be sharp showers here and maybe some hail. Move towards Devon

and Somerset and it is fine and dry with sunshine, but it is cold. One

or two showers affecting Pembrokeshire. Northern Ireland, a

descent afternoon. Lots of sunshine, but it is cold in the wind. 5 or 6

Celsius. You have to take a few degrees off for the feel for the

day. One of the coldest areas will be the north-east. It will feel

sub-zero in Newcastle and Aberdeen and some snow showers into the

North York Moors and in inglyia, we will see wintry showers here. Much

of the Midlands and southern counties, a descent afternoon, but

it is cold in the wind. Through the evening, we will see significant

snow developing across parts of East Anglia. A good couple of

inches of snow possible here. Elsewhere, it is a dry story with

clearing skies and the winds falling lighter as well. It will be

a cold night. So a widespread frost with the risk

of ice. A bright start to the day for much

of the eastern side sd of the UK, bar the odd wintry. The sunshine

turns hazy the further east you are as the cloud thickens up and that's

because we have this weather front and that will bring rain to

Northern Ireland and snow up over the west of Scotland and the hills

of Wales, but nothing too untoward. It is a weakening feature. Still

there or thereabouts on Friday. It is only light rain, sleet and snow,

nothing too concerning at this stage, but another cold day. Into

the start of the weekend, some uncertainty with the timing of this

weather front coming in from the west, but it looks like it will

spread rain into Northern Ireland. Elsewhere, it is dry on Saturday. A

usable start to the weekend, but cold, still cold, but not windy.

The second half of the weekend, it looks like the winds will be

picking up. A windier day on Sunday. Still cold. Temperatures in single

figures and there is the risk of snow from the the west. But some

uncertainty with the forecastment keep up-to-date with the details

online. The top story:

A public inquiry has revealed appalling suffering of patients at

Stafford Hospital and calls for sweeping changes in the NHS to