12/02/2014 BBC Newsline


12/02/2014

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heavy rain is causing more misery as flood waters are on the rise.

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Good evening. The First Minister, Peter Robinson,

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has given his public backing to the Health Minister, Edwin Poots, in the

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wake of continuing problems at the Royal Victoria Hospital's Emergency

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Department. Last night's BBC Spotlight programme highlighted the

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cases of five patients who died in circumstances where delays may have

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been a contributory factor. This afternoon, Edwin Poots told the

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Health Committee at the Assembly that the coroner is now involved in

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four of the cases, but denied that there is any crisis. Tonight Mr

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Robinson says if more funding is needed to fix the problems at the

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Royal, he is keen to find it. I very much support Edwin. I recognise the

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very difficult task that he has to do, but I also see his determination

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to get to the bottom of these issues and I make this very clear. If Edwin

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comes to the Executive on the basis of advice from professionals from

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within his department and indicates the issue is about finance then my

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hand will go up to give him whatever support he requires because lives

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must not be put at risk. Earlier Edwin Poots addressed the

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Health Committee at Stormont after it emerged that three families have

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yet to be given the full details of the circumstances surrounding the

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death of their relatives after treatment at the Royal. A doctor who

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worked in the Emergency Department there has told BBC Newsline he more

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often managed chaos and not patients. Marie-Louise Connolly

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reports. Too few medics dealing with too many

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patients. Last night's Spotlight revealed pressures in the Royal's

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emergency department led to delays which may have been a contributory

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factor in the deaths of five patients. It revealed doctors on the

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frontline e-mailed and met with senior managers warning them of

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problems over a year ago, but the first time one of those doctors has

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broken his silence to explain why. On many a night shift or weekend

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shift that I worked in that department, I did not give a

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standard of care that I felt was appropriate to patients because our

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sole focus was managing the chaos. Over the past 18 months, questions

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about the safety of emergency departments from doctors,

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politicians, the public and the media have often by dismissed as

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hype. The Health Minister gave this assurance. Northern Ireland is a

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safe place to get emergency medicine. It is a safe place to have

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medical care. So what is the true picture? While deaths in hospitals

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must be expected, what these latest five cases highlight is whether the

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environment is as safe as it should be. Dr Millar says he believes the

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figure could be higher. The cases that are being referred to, I think,

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must only represent the tip of the iceberg because these are cases that

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have been flagged up under a serious adverse incidents procedure. There

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are a lot of people who have come into hospital and have died or have

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come to harm where this procedure has not been flagged up.

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Feelings were running high at the Health Committee were under

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pressure, the Health Minister reiterated there is no crisis. I

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accept that the treatment and care that those five people have may well

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have fallen short and we will have an appropriate investigation of that

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matter. Five people dying in hospital of 80,000 being treated is

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not a crisis. Some disagreed and questioned the treatment of patients

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and their families. So there are people out there who don't know

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whether the waiting time contributed to their deaths? And my

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understanding is that some of those cases were particular conditions

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that needed treated urgently so the waiting time was crucial. It is also

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been confirmed that the coroner is dealing with four of the five cases.

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An indication of how seriously the Belfast Health Trust is treating the

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issue. The predicted high winds across

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Northern Ireland have led to traffic disruption with roads damaged, trees

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down and delays to flights and ferries. At one point 1,500

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customers were without electricity in Newry with NIE warning of further

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possible damage to the network. Will Leitch reports. The cycle of storm

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and tide this winter makes its mark again. This time partial road

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collapse on the Shore Road a route already under going repairs. Buses

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diverted, motorists asked to think of another route and big delays.

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That's creating a serious situation because that road is used by a lot

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of heavy vehicles and we used a lot of by-roads there. I wouldn't advice

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anyone to take alternative routes because there is no way across.

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There needs to be a survey carried out along this seawall to see what

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collapsed last year too. With rising tides and climate change and more

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severe weather, a red warning tonight, we need to make sure this

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is fit tor purpose. Many places in the north-west had

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been affected by a heavy snow fall overnight and some schools were

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forced to close. The road services said it responded quickly deploying

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extra gritters. The worst of the winds so far hit the south-west of

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Ireland with gusts of 100mph. One startled onlooker captured the last

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few seconds of the roof of Limerick club. At one stage a quarter of a

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million homes were without power. Tonight, Stenaline's ferry has been

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cancelled. NIE has been restoring power to the homes in the Newry

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area. To save grammar schools in the

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Craigavon area say they have won their battle with the Southern

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Education and Library Board. Last summer, the board voted in favour of

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merging the two grammar schools with the high schools, making them all

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ability. Protesters said that would dismantle the grammar school system

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and destroy the popular Dickson plan. The board now plans to appoint

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an independent person to try to find another solution.

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The Education committee at the Assembly has heard assurances that

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not a single school will lose money in a budget shake-up. The minister,

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John O'Dowd, has added extra money after widespread complaints from

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parents and teachers about the Common Funding Scheme. Some members

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expressed concern that the move was only a stay of execution and schools

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may suffer in the future. But Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheean said he would

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also complain if the assurances turned out to be untrue.

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I say this to you now, if it turns out that there are losers, I will

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stand beside you in front of the cameras and criticise the minister

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because if he is telling lies, I will get up and criticise him.

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Tomorrow on BBC Newsline, we'll have the first of two special reports on

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how industry is collaborating with schools to better prepare pupils for

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the workplace. First up is the world of IT and then on Friday the focus

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will turn to the engineering sector. That's on BBC Newsline at 6.30pm.

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Now to that all-important weather forecast. Here's Cecilia Daly with

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the details. Good evening. Well, winds will continue to be a feature

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of our weather tonight. Over the next couple of hours in particular,

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winds may gust to 80mph in some areas especially exposed parts of

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the south and west. An amber warning has in place. By morning, the winds

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will have eased. There will be a mix of rain and snow showers moving

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through tonight. There will be lying snow in places and combined with low

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temperatures exec expect ice -- we can expect ice to be a problem.

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Thursday is looking a quieter day. To begin with, it is cold and icy.

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There will be rain and snow showers moving through with lying snow. Be

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prepared for that when you are travelling tomorrow morning. A much

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quieter and less windy day across the Republic of Ireland tomorrow and

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winds will be lighter across Britain. A lot of dry weather too

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with sunshine. Icy to begin with and snow showers will continue to affect

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parts of Scotland and Northern England. It will feel cold tomorrow

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in Northern Ireland. It will be blustery, but the winds won't be

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damaging and there will be some rain and snow showers moving through, but

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sunshine with temperatures of five or six Celsius. There is drier

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weather to begin with on Friday. It doesn't last long. More rain with

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the risk of flooding and strong winds will be moving up as the next

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storm moves in on Friday night and into Saturday.

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In tonight's difficult weather conditions Ireland drew 1-1 with

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England in the under 21 hockey tournament at New Mossley. That's it

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for now. Good night.

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