29/07/2013 BBC News at Six

A new crisis for the NHS 111 helpline, now one of its main

contractors says it will pull out. Managers promise to keep the service

going, but some doctors blame a market style reorganisation of the

NHS. At the heart of this has been the drive by government to enforce a

competitive tendering approach in the NHS. We will be asking what

ministers plan to do. Also tonight, what caused a holiday coach in Italy

to plunge 100 feet into a ravine killing 39 people?

The top Catholic school in the Highlands, where boys were abused

over decades, we have a special report.

The Bolshoi Ballet comes to London for its 50th anniversary, but what

about those backstage scandals? Later in the hour on BBC News, I

will be here with Sportsday, including the latest football

transfer news and Gareth Bale's possible world record move to Real

Hello and welcome to the BBC News At Six. The troubled NHS 111 helpline

has been dealt another blow tonight after one of the main contractors

said it was pulling out. NHS Direct provides the non-emergency phone

line for a third of England's population. Officials insist the

bull in the affected areas will continue to get a prompt and safe

service, but the British Medical Association has called it an abject

failure. Health correspondent Dominic Hughes reports.

The 111 helpline is meant to provide advice and practical help for

patients in England needing urgent but not emergency care. It is an

idea that has broad support, but its introduction has been fraught with

problems. In some areas, like the Northeast, where 111 is run by the

local ambulance service, it seems to be working well. But in other parts

of the country, the system collapsed soon after being launched. NHS

Direct won contracts to provide services in 11 out of 46 regions

across England, but earlier this month it announced it was pulling

out of Cornwall and North Essex before they were even up and

running. Now it is pulling out of contract that cover around a third

of the population. NHS 111 was set up in part at least to relieve

pressure on busy accident and emergency departments, like this

one. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that more people are coming

to emergency departments when they are not satisfied with the service

they are getting. The 11 contracts won by NHS Direct were worth a

potential �43 million, but they got their sums badly wrong.

Consultations took twice as long as they had budgeted for, and so the

trust was losing money on every single phone call. Critics say there

is an underlying problem with the way the system was introduced.

implementation of 111 has been an abject failure, and at the heart of

this has been the drive by government to enforce a competitive

tendering approach in the NHS. ministers say patients are now

seeing an improvement in how the helpline is working.

disappointment has been that, in a few areas, and I emphasise very

few, the service has not lived up to expectations. The vast majority of

the country are actually getting a good service from 111. When the

system works, it seems to do well. The comparable NHS 24 helpline in

Scotland is generally well-regarded. And as they do in the north-east of

England, patients could see local ambulance trusts running the service

in areas left vacant by NHS Direct, but the withdrawal of the biggest

single provider is another blow to a service that is still finding its

feet. Live now to deputy political editor

James Landale at Westminster, James, this is not the first problem with

the 111 service, so how damaging is this latest episode, the you think?

It rather depends on who you believe. The Government says these

problems are exaggerated and that actually most people get a pretty

good service, and they say there is no evidence of any pressure being

put on accident and emergency services. Labour are incredulous,

they say the model is fatally flawed, it simply does not work, it

is putting pressure on emergency services, and we should go back to a

single national nurse led telephone hotline. Regardless of who was right

or wrong, this is very tricky for the Conservatives, who positioned

themselves as the champion patients, blaming Labour for poor

care that some patients had got at hospitals like Mid Staffordshire.

This allows Labour back into the argument to criticise the

Government's own reforms, even if Labour did promise a version of the

111 hotline themselves. There is also a more fundamental question,

and that is over way the state does business in providing public

services. Why did this organisation, NHS Direct, promised to do this work

so cheaply without it being a going concern? Why did the state agreed to

the contract in the first place? That has ramifications for the

provision of public services across the country.

If you want more information on the changes to the NHS Direct service,

there is a Q&A section on the BBC decades has now claimed 39 lives. A

holiday coach carrying 50 passengers, including many children,

plunged off way by that east of Naples into a ravine. Reports

suggested was travelling at speed when it several cars. The accident

happened near the town of Monteforte Irpino, 40 miles from Naples. Alan

Johnston reports now from the scene. Wake-up there on the edge of the

highway, the passengers will have felt their bus launch into midair.

It crashed down through the trees and pounded into the Earth 100 feet

below. In a mangled mess of metal, reminders of those on board, among

them families with children. The safety barrier on the highway's edge

had failed to keep them safe. TRANSLATION: I would think the

barriers on the bridges and viaducts should prevent this kind of

accident, but it seems the impact was so strong that even the barrier

gave way. The bus had been badly out of control. It did not break and is

approached slow-moving traffic and rammed through a line of cars before

it careered off the road. TRANSLATION: All of a sudden, we

heard bangs coming from behind us, then we were crashed into, and we

didn't even see the coach at all. Rescue crews worked through the

night, surging force some drivers, tending to the injured, and

gathering up the many dead. -- searching for survivors.

TRANSLATION: We live very close to the crash site, we heard a huge boom

and ran, we took the children out. All you could hear was children

shouting. We called the police and waited because the guard rail was

hanging and we were afraid it would fall on us. In a makeshift morgue in

a nearby town, relatives have been coming to try to identify the dead.

As the day drew to a close, they prayed for those who they had lost.

There is shock and grief here, but questions are also being asked. What

caused this carnage? Was there a failure of the bus's breaks perhaps?

Or was the driver to blame? He was among those who died in the

wreckage, and the actions he took in the last moments of his life will be

closely scrutinised in an investigation that is only just

Here, a teenage killers fighting for her life after an attack at her

father's house in which he was killed. A suspect also died after

driving a car into the side of a pub. The attack happened in Mostyn

in Manchester. From there, north of England correspondent Danny Savage

reports. It was at 10:20pm last night that

police called to this house found the body of 41-year-old Robert

Jackson. Lying critically injured nearby was his daughter. Both had

been stabbed. Robert Jackson has been described by neighbours as a

man who had no enemies and who loved his music. We were trying to put two

and two together, with its saying a 41-year-old man and a 13-year-old

girl, so my daughter walked around to where Jacko used to live and

asked if that is where it was and they confirmed it. My daughter came

back, I was in a state of shock, I felt sick. He was the nicest man you

could ever meet, he would bend over backwards to help anybody. Police

were called to the house on Delta walk in Moston after someone raised

concerns about the father and daughter. Less than three hours

later, police were called to what eight road where a man had had his

car stolen. The car was spotted next to a pub, but it sped off, and

moments later crashed into the side of a pub, leaving this whole. The

44-year-old driver, who it is understood was responsible for the

earlier attack, was then taken to hospital suffering from injuries

from the crash and a stab wound. He died a short time later. This

afternoon, flowers were left for the dead man at the pub, naming him as

Darren Gasper, who neighbours say was known to police. But it is the

fact that a child was targeted which has left people shocked. She is a

very nice, quiet little girl, she talks to my little girl, we see her

with the neighbours' little boy. the 13-year-old is the only witness

to what really happened here. She is still lying critically ill in

hospital. British tourists travelling between

Spain and Gibraltar today have not had to endure the six long wait

imposed by Spanish border guards over the weekend. It follows an

intervention from the Foreign Secretary, who raised serious

concerns over the issue. There are reports the delays could be linked

to a fishing dispute between Spain and the British territory of

Gibraltar. Robert Hall reports from Spain.

Another territorial squall swirls around the rock, and the Spanish

deploy the one tactic guaranteed to raise temperatures - a go slow. Over

three days, thousands of temperatures were gridlocked at

Gibraltar's gated border as Spanish officials checked paperwork for

traffic travelling both onto and out of British territory. They said it

was a routine operation to prevent smuggling. The drivers, sweating

under the Midsummer sun, thought differently. Six hours, this is

chaos. It is chaos, warm, hungry, people complaining. Terrible for the

kids. We have got elderly people, you know, we have got diabetics,

pregnant women. People going to weddings, people catching flights to

Malaga and Seville. You know, not everybody is happy, we can't keep

everybody happy all the time, but unfortunately this is the

situation. A call from the British foreign secretary to his Spanish

counterpart has led to a resumption of normal service, but the tension

remains. Last week Spanish patrol boats, Gibraltar police launches and

Royal Navy vessels were involved in a melee around a token which was

dropping concrete blocks to form an artificial reef. Madrid sees this as

an infringement of its fishing rights and have lodged a formal

complaint. Last month, police filmed this video of another incidents

during which a Spanish patrol allegedly fired shots near a

Gibraltar jet ski. All evidence, says the Gibraltar government, of

Spanish attempts to bully them. For centuries, the Rock has weathered

Mediterranean storms and the rows over who should own this strategic

outcrop. William Hague's direct intervention has eased difficulties

for now, but the row is not over, and 300 years after the British

established their colony, the likelihood of more border incidents

is all too real. A series of car bomb attacks have

hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and other cities, killing more than 50

people. It is understood the devices, which exploded during

morning rush hour, targeted mainly Shia Muslim areas. More than 700

people have been killed in Iraq so far this month.

A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence of sexual and physical

abuse at a prestigious Catholic boy school in the islands. Accounts of

child abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey School and its preparatory School

spanned three decades. Both schools have now closed. Scotland

correspondent James Cook has the story, which does contain

descriptions of the abuse. This Benedictine abbey runs a

school, drawing pupils from all over Scotland... It looks for all the

world like an idyllic childhood on the banks of Loch Ness. For

decades, devout Catholics had trusted their children to be men of

God at Fort Augustus Abbey. Only now, 20 years after the school

closed, is it clear that some of those children were betrayed. Donald

was 13 when he was sent to the Abbey in 1961. His childhood was far from

a delicate, and he blames this month, an Australian, Aidan Duggan.

He pulled my trousers down, it was horrible, painful. He raped you.

you came to light. The BBC has spoken to more than 50 former pupils

of Fort Augustus and its prep school. More than a third describe

physical violence, six alleged sexual abuse. Before he abused me,

he closed the curtains so no-one would see. I used to cry at night.

Like we were saying our prayers at night and I used to just cry.

man who abused Brendan in 1977 was another Australian, father Denis

Alexander. The BBC tracked in down to his retirement home in the

suburbs of Sydney. I do not care who you are, just get off my property or

I will call the cops, OK? allegation is you sexually abused at

Fort Augustus in the late 1970s. became a parish priest here in

1989. The Catholic Church in Australia says it was not told why

he was sent back from Scotland. Isn't it time you confronted your

past? No answers from him, but what about the UK's senior Benedictine?

am very sorry, very sorry about any abuse that may have been committed

at Fort Augustus, any abuse that may have been committed at any

Benedictine school, or anywhere for that matter. What happened here at

Fort Augustus leaves many questions for the Catholic Church. How much

was known? What was done to stop it? And what is being done now to

investigate? The police have now begun an inquiry, but for the boys

who were abused here, it comes special investigation on BBC One

Scotland at 9.00pm tonight, and on the BBC iPlayer. Our top story this

evening. A new crisis for the NHS 111 helpline. Now one of its main

contractors says it will pull out. And still to come. Why you might

soon be allowed to park on double yellow lines. To go shopping. And

coming up in sports day, Willa Jessica Ennis-Hill make it to the

world championships next month? There are still doubts over her

keep rising so are the big firms that supply our gas and electricity

making excessive profits? A committee of MPs has said it's far

too difficult to tell and is calling on the energy regulator to use its

teeth to restore consumer confidence. Since 2007, average gas

prices have risen in real terms by 41%. And electricity prices have

increased by 20%. Here's our Industry Correspondent, John Moylan.

How do the big six energy suppliers make their money? Are the prices

they charge us fair? MPs had been investigating all of this amid

accusations of excessive profits. Their answer? You don't know for

certain what they are making. They tell you what they make in retail

but not in the generation part of it. We think it's about 20% on a

generation. And about 5% on retail, and that sounds to me quite

excessive. MPs say there's a lack of transparency from the big six energy

firms which is hitting consumer confidence. At the end of the day,

they need to make a profit as much as they can. I don't trust them.

I've always been fairly comfortable they do the best by me but I haven't

checked. It's way too expensive. Most of the time, my bills are

estimated. They have no idea what they are charging me and I feel like

I'm overpaying. I feel like I trust them but more information would be a

benefit. According to MPs, much of the blame for the lack of

transparency must lie here with the industry regulator, Ofgem. Now, they

commissioned this independent report to clear up this very issue and yet

it then failed to implement all of the recommendations. When we looked

at the evidence from the independent auditors it wasn't persuasive to us

about the benefits to customers that might flow from this recommendations

would be outweighed by the costs that could fall to customers as a

result. It's not just profits under scrutiny. MPs worry many others

don't even realise what we are paying for. Government figures

suggest energy efficiency measures and subsidies for renewables will

add a third at the average electricity price by 2020. There is

an increase in people 's bills due to our policies on fuel poverty,

energy efficiencies, and renewables but the cost of increasing support

for renewables is much less than many people believe. The real big

reason for higher bills if global gas prices and the need to renew our

networks. But are these extra costs affair with household already

struggling to pay their energy bills? MPs say it's time the

government changed tack and funded all of this from direct taxation

instead. Pope Francis has struck a conciliatory note towards gay people

in his first press conference since becoming the leader of the world's

catholics in March. Speaking on the plane back to Rome he said he wanted

gay people to be integrated into society and not marginalised or

judged. Our religious affairs correspondent is at Westminster

Cathedral. Robert, the language certainly sounds different but how

significant are these words? Well, you have to say, you saw it in

Brazil, his radical change of style has captured public imagination but

it falls in some way short of changing Church teaching and I think

it's very good to illustrate this today. The Pope says gay people

shouldn't be marginalised and judged but he's also said that it is sinful

to commit acts, homosexual acts. ( edit, add additional list, said much

the same thing although Pope Benedict also said homosexuality was

objectively disordered. We are looking at a change of style,

emphasis. Popes don't go around making policy and changing church

law. They have great power interpreting it. Hope Francis

thought is that atheists could go to heaven if they do the right thing on

earth, so you can see what he can get away with. OK, Robert, thank you

very much. A Labour MP has called on the social networking site, Twitter

to crack down on abusive messages after receiving dozens of

threatening tweets. Stella Creasy was targeted after giving public

support to the campaign for Jane Austen to appear on the new �10

note. She's revealed that the messages included threats of rape.

Motorists may be allowed to park on double yellow lines for a short time

in a bid to boost High Street trading. The Government says local

councils in England need to play their part in what they call

reigning back the over-zealous culture of parking enforcement. Our

Local Government Correspondent, Mike Sergeant, reports.

To most drivers, double yellow lines send a clear message. No parking on

any day at any time. Share in Brentwood, restrictions on the

length of the high Street. Keeping the traffic flowing smoothly but

frustrating those hoping to make a quick stop. This is literally the

only place you can park to have lunch. It's all double yellow lines.

Everywhere. Like every shop here, the florist has nowhere outside the

park. Rita says strictly enforced traffic rules are hurting their

business. If anybody just once to order up OK, -- or drug OK, go to

the shoe repairers, they can't stop the two minutes. Some shoppers don't

seem mind walking further. Double yellow lines, there's a reason for

it. Yes, if they got a problem, they should make some money out of it.

Conservative ministers think some councils have been using charges and

penalties as an easy way to raise money. The idea is to allow people

to park on the high street for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, enough time to

grab some shopping and move on before getting fined. But the

Liberal Democrats say the plan is unworkable. They think traffic

wardens should realise those parked illegally. And motoring

organisations worry that high streets could be clogged up if

drivers stop wherever they like. of the problems is that could lead

to congestions. W lines keep traffic flowing, and is a risk that if you

turn the space back over the parking, we will see more congestion

in urban areas. That would be a downside to this idea but otherwise

has some good merits. Concerns have been made by road safety

campaigners. There's many campaigns that answers before drivers could

see double yellow lines as good pit stop. The world famous Bolshoi

Ballet starts a three-week season tonight in London. It is celebrating

its 50 year anniversary at Covent Garden. But the famous Russian dance

company has been plagued by scandal recently. Has it left all that

behind? Here's our Arts Editor, Will Gompertz.

The legendary Bolshoi Ballet are back at the Royal Opera house. They

will be performing among other best in the world, their company one

of the most prestigious. Embodying they believe, the heart and soul of

Russia. TRANSLATION: I think the Bolshoi

Ballet always represented Russian spirit and Russian music. And that

is why it can be considered the greatest achievement of our culture.

Chekhov once said the only thing he knew about ballet was during the

performance, all a stink like horses. Dancers learn to mask the

unpleasant realities of their physical exertions. There's no

amount skill of or train which would enable anybody to conceal the

strange goings-on backstage at the Bolshoi of late. There have been

allegations of corruption and smear campaigns. And then in January, a

traffic acid attack on Sergei Filin, the artistic director.

Instigated, it is alleged, by one of his own dancers. That man with a

dagger. A new boss has now been appointed to sort out this troubled

institution. TRANSLATION: This kind of event come

at this tragic event, has a very tough psychological impact on

everybody. But these negative events will be in the past. And we will

during the reign of Catherine the great since whether they've survived

Napoleon, famine, two world wars and commune is. It should survive this

current crisis, too, but the scars will linger. Time for a look at the

weather. Here's Nina Ridge. Hello, George. Much of July is going out

with a bang. More thunderstorms today from widespread showers across

the south. The best of the dry weather and sunshine. The showers

easing to the next couple of hours, keeping a few going, particularly

across northern Scotland and for the Northern Isles, things turning misty

and murky. A quiet spell of weather before more cloud gathers towards

the south-west by the end of the night, so temperatures looking

around 14-16. Already, 8am, showers scattered across parts of Scotland.

There will be dry and brighter spells in between the showers and

especially in northern England and Northern Ireland. Sitting to the

south, much more overcast skies, cloudy across Wales and the

Midlands, and it looks like we will have a spell of rain for southern

counties. Steadily moving eastwards, heavy downpours at times,

mixed in with that, but we are expecting it to clear away. By the

middle part of the afternoon, it should have cleared away from the

south-east corner. We will keep a mixture of sunshine and showers to

the north and yet again, some could be heavy with thunderstorms mixed in

and temperatures tomorrow, a bit disappointing. 18-20d. By the time

you get to the middle part of the week, more weather fronts coming

into the south-west though this one looks like it's going to push its

way north. Still heavy rain at times especially across western areas. It

is moving north and to the south of that, warm and humid conditions

which will make itself felt by the time we get to Thursday. A more

detailed look on the website. A reminder of our main story. A major