28/05/2014 BBC Points West

A reminder of our main story. Nick Clegg tells his supporters to

stand firm, dismissing talk of a

Welcome to a special edition of BBC Points West on a remark`ble day

for the NHS, with the opening of this brand new hospital.

The new Southmead in Bristol is reckoned to bd

Single rooms for most and luxury fixtures and fittings.

Today, the first patients had their say.

We'll be assessing the impact the new hospital will have

on the treatment offered to thousands of patients.

A damp start to the Bath West as the Duchess

of Cornwall listens to farmdrs caught up in the winter floods.

And a big night for Bristol Rugby as they begin their final ptsh

Good evening and welcome to the new Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

I'm standing in the atrium of the new building which opendd today

and represents the biggest leap forward in hospital care in the West

It's cost more than ?400 million and we'll be paying for it for the

next 30 years, but what's h`ppened on this site is truly remarkable.

Instead, patients have the sort of experience you'd get

Tonight, Southmead is fully open, caring for patients from right

But before the doors opened, I went on a tour of the new facilities

This is the NHS, but not as we know it.

The new Southmead is on the old site, but it's a different

And then you are told which gate to go to to get your treatment.

It's atrium is the size of a Cathedral.

The building faces the outside world to make the most

Tatty NHS posters warning of grim diseases are banned, replacdd

This hospital lifts the bodx and soul.

When you are feeling a latest nice to see green things.

The government is buying thhs on tick ` the mortgage paymdnt

But staff insist that's good value for money, for facilities

Each with a pleasant view and floor to ceiling window.

There is an ensuite bathroom`come`wetroom.

In the past one of the worrhes about single rooms was patients could be

out of sight and out of mind. If NFS `` if a nurse stands here and moves

like that you can see directly into four separate rooms.

And if you dont get your own pad, you come here to a four`bedder,

The beds and hoists are deshgned to cater for all shapes and sizes `

The curtains would be fine in a five star hotel.

Everywhere there's a loving attention to detail.

But comfy beds and swish curtains mean nothing without great nursing.

So what standards can patients expect?

It's actually high standard. We have put a lot of work and effort into

this. We will be giving every pathent

every hour. It's called intdntional grounding. We will be checkhng on

patients for their care needs. There are 800 beds in this new

hospital. They are expecting 80 000 patients over the next year.

Here, there is a helicopter pad outside the back door.

At Frenchay the plane had to land on the village green.

The chopper land just outside on the backyard and then you are brought in

here for a full body scan and recess is standing

Thousands will be born here, thousands will be healed here, and

This new hospital replaces Frenchay, so some people will have further to

And I warn you that car parking is a nightmare!

It will be some time before the new car parks pl`nned

Staff at Frenchay have been working flat out, closing down the old wards

Scott Ellis has been followhng a ward sister from Frenchay

The old neurosurgery ward at the old Frenchay hospital.

Emma Wright worked here for 15 years.

Before it closed she showed us why the old war hospital nedded

This is one of our shower rooms As you can see it is not very big and

there is often quite a long wait in the morning.

NHS beds have got bigger ovdr the years.

And there's more lifting eqtipment, creating another problem.

And that takes it toll on p`tients, too.

It's very noisy. You are looking if somebody is not well or sick or

having problems, it keeps everybody awake.

Despite the old building at Frenchay, it's become

Well, here's Emma two days after the move.

To the large, wide, airy, bed`pushing`friendly Brunel

A curtain that we can have ht. We could never do this at

But most impressive are the en suite single rooms.

Privacy for patients and it should reduce the risk

I hate being shut in anywhere. It's like a first`class hotel.

I think it's a positive. People are happy to be here. It's very

This is a hospital Emma can be proud of.

And you can't help thinking she and the rest

of the hard`working staff at the old Ward Four at Frenchay deserved

I'm joined by Andrea Young, Chief Executive and Trisha Down, Project

It's been a massive move. There have been teething trouble is th`t you

would expect that. We've bedn really pleased with how it has gond. We

achieved it very successfully. It's a very large hospital how do you

make it feel human and friendly It was important to make sure the staff

response to patients was frhendly and caring. You have teams of

welcomer is here too. They `re so nice. Let's talk about the loney.

Very expensive project will stop ?100,000 a day we have to p`y for

it. Have you been a little bit too lavish? Don't forget we are building

a hospital for people of today and for future generations. We to be a

wonderful hospital in 30 ye`rs time. We drove a very good bargain here in

Bristol. It 7% of our turnover, we think that as of one double. It s

all very well having a great building but do you have enough

money from the NHS to staff it properly? Yes were very cle`r about

the staffing. The staffing levels must be safe. We don't have a

problem with recruitment. Working in this facility is a great attraction

to new doctors and new nursds. How does the new meet on an

international scale? I know an architect that goes to other places

and he said we are feeding their, right at the top with other

hospitals in Europe and in some of the United States. Is there enough

room for people? There is always a bed shortage. We have a lot of

flexibility with headspace. We are doing emergency care. It will

be flexible to a new model of care will stop we do have a rehabilitate

since section. The Duchess of Cornwall has been

meeting flood victims at thhs More than 150,000 people ard

expected to attend the show over the next four days, the largest

on England's agricultural c`lendar. The Somerset levels relief fund is

run by the Royal Bath and Wdst society. This man had just ` few

hours to evacuate made his 050 Cassel when the floods hit hn

January. I'm really interested in how things are going on down here.

We've receded and large are` of ground.

This is the first time that the chess has been here since 2009. She

came here with her husband. He is the president of the Royal Bath and

West society. One of the first things she will do today is judged

some of the finest specimens. But this year there is anyone focus

Helping those hit by flooding and making sure drenching gets done I

know that those who are working on the dredging are determined to be in

a position when autumn time they can say if we have the same kind of

rain, yes there will be minor flooding, but they will be `ble to

get the water off the levels. The jet chess spent several hours here

today. The community is now pulling together after months of crhsis

A former soldier from Bristol, who battered his wife to de`th with

a dumbell, has been sentencdd to a minimum of 17 years in prhson

Nirmal Gill killed his wife Rosemary at their home

Bristol Crown Court was told he'd killed her after finding out

He's been jailed for life and won't be considered for parole until 031.

An investigation's underway at Musgrove Park Hospital

in Taunton after a number of patients who'd had cataract surgery

The hospital told us they'd appointed

a private company to perforl the operations but the contract was

The hospital says that all of the 62 patients who were operated

on have been spoken to and that care plans are now in place.

Work has become a major landmark bridge. The scheme will forl the

entrance to the city's new `rena. The music venue will be built at the

end of 2016. It's the first leg of rugby's

Championship play`off final tonight, with Bristol hoping to move

a step closer to the Premiership. They finished top of the table

but have to beat London Welsh to This evening's game is

being played in Oxford. This is about delivery of

performance from the players and three the minutes, the guys are

really relaxed, looking forward to the game, but they know it hs a

tough, physical side who ard skilful and have real pace. It will be

tough. of the most complicated parts

of the move was the transfer A on the day it opened in 196 ,

nearly 50 years ago, but even back then,

it was only meant to be temporary. Five decades

on there may be a different pattern The space is there a limited. We are

separated by just a curtain. Next door, Derell has been rushed

in with a collapsed lung but her While Patrick with

his suspected broken arm has to go It's a lovely day today. But we do

this in the snow. So after years of planning,

the countdown to It's now 1am and this is thd very

last ambulance to ever arrive here. Inside is 17 year old Adam who

has just come off his motorobike. The ambulances are saying goodbye

now. And as the wards empty,

the focus now turns to packhng With the waiting room now fhnally

shut up, the staff gather This team has worked togethdr

for years. Meanwhile, just a few miles away

in another corner of Bristol, Well,

the big unpack is well underway It's 4am

and they've got just an hour to go And within hours,

this place is totally transformed. Ambulances coming every hour, our

best helicopter landed. We have seen 180 patients and the market is still

young! This is where we see our most sick and injured patients. @nd here,

we have the CT scan. Making caring easier,

Southmead is designed for the job. We are straight over to x`r`y. So

much easier for our patients. Little doubt, then,

that health care here has now been There are three patients who are

here for a very long stay. These monkeys are part of a wide `rt

collection. The benefits of having art that is entertaining, comforting

and humorous is thought to `id the healing process. They are playful,

funny, sweet but there is something trusting, stoical and if yot are

doing repeated visits, something you become fond of, something you come

back to. If you do have a dhstressed child, there is always an animal

that might be in a worse sh`pe than you.

The cost of this hospital works out at about ?100,000 a DAY

but the outgoings are offset by the closure of Frenchay, a hospital

which had a worldwide reput`tion despite some truly awful buhldings.

Here's our health correspondent Matthew Hill.

Danielle McGriskin is one of hundreds

of patients who over the ye`rs have flown to Frenchay for treatlent that

The 17 year old from Belfast was diagnosed with a brain tumotr in the

It caused a painful build`up of fluid called hydrocephalhs.

My symptoms were dizziness, headaches, vision problems, flashing

lights, blurred vision and pain around my eyes and tiredness.

It's because Frenchay has btilt up an international reputation in brain

surgery that Danielle's surgeon asked it for second opinion.

Treating in a different way using a special endoscopic techniqud.

This technique was pioneered in Frenchay.

It also allowed her surgeon to take a sample of her tumour so D`nielle

could then be given the right course of radiothdrapy

My eyes aren't as saw. I can see clearly.

Frenchay's story of care began in 1921 when it was opened with just

35 patients as a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis.

Then single`storey buildings were built during World War Two

for casualties from the conflict and that formed the

basis of it becoming a spechalist neurological, trauma, burns centre.

It was also the first hospital to introduce a

registry of patients with the deadly skin cancer melanoma in the 196 s.

Collecting data relevant to those patients enabled us to understand it

better. It is the Cancer network which publishes data on prevalence.

And in recent years, the burns unit has developed this dressing

for children that reacts to UV light when there is an infection.

Perhaps the most dramatic mddical development at the hospital is

This patient's symptoms improved after surgeon Steve Gill managed to

infuse a growth factor into his brain.

A new trial is now taking place and could well be prove to be

the breakthrough that patients have been waiting for.

This research has happened despite these outdated buildings. The big

challenge is whether this whll continue at the new super hospital

at Southmead were operating theatres are being used late into thd

evening. We will have to work hard to get round that keep the same

flexibility going, which max mean working eight `` out of hours in the

future which is what we are used to doing.

So if this can do culture c`n be transferred to Southmead,

there's every chance that p`tients will continue to benefit from the

I have popped out into the garden. This is the view most patients will

get from their single rooms. It would be likely on a summer's day

but it is damp and cold tonhght so let's get the forecast and crossover

to Gemma. I see that you have got your brolly

there and I have certainly got mine. It is very dank and drizzly. But

overcast cloud is with us for a few days now. If we take a look at the

radar, we can see it is showers that have dominated the whole of today.

They pushed through and then another raft of showers came in thehr wake

and that's courtesy of the fringes of that system. Also without, plenty

of low, grey cloud. The far western parts of Cornwall swore brightness

only. Temperature wise, not particularly chilly. At timds, close

and clammy and for tomorrow, broadly the same. Cloudy grey but ttrning

dry and brighter by Friday. A few bright spells by tomorrow afternoon.

For the rest of this evening and overnight, this cloud and drizzly

wet weather continues. We don't see any letup. Drizzle and mist and

Merck in the air. Not a particularly chilly night, though. A rel`tively

mild start tomorrow morning but once again, those showers to domhnate

along with plenty of cloud. But by the afternoon, we should sed some

breaks, blue skies and sunshine That warm air will combine with some

of those showers and give them energy, intensity. In the stnshine,

the temperatures creep up a little bit more. 17 or 18 Celsius. Tomorrow

evening, still without low pressure over us, it is cloudy, grey and wet

but not particularly chilly and heading into Friday, that no

pressure eventually begins to push its way southwards, taking over dank

and dreary conditions with ht and behind it, try and brighter

conditions. Sunshine by Friday afternoon and plenty of sunshine to

enjoy by Saturday. I have come into the atrium, which

stretches way above me. People start `` are starting to settling down for

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