19/06/2014 BBC Points West

at the papers over on the BBC News Channel but now,

Good evening. Patient safety is being put at risk

at the emergency department of the new Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

That's according to a paramddic who's spoken exclusively to Points

West. She claims the departlent is struggling at times to cope with

demand. The union that reprdsents some of the ambulance service says

it's putting the paramedic staff under pressure.

It's over four weeks since Staff and patients moved from the old Frenchay

Hospital to the Emergency Ddpartment at the new Southmead Hospit`l. But

during that time, the department has had more than just teething

problems. A paramedic with South West Ambulance Service has spoken to

Points West about her concerns. Her words are spoken by an actor to

We knew it was going to be bedlam. After queueing, we hand over our

patients to a nurse who's in charge all the patient in the corrhdor I

have seen the nurse have ovdr eight patients to care for and shd can't

always see them. They are often left alone. It will only be a matter of

time before someone dies in the corridor.

The union that represent many ambulance staff say that thd

There have been problems at Southmead Hospital with par`medics

being held up, with patients in corridors, they need to look at

contingency planning and risk assessing what is happening because

if we do not take immediate action, there will be something that will

happen that will be unfortunate that could have been avoided.

The hospital trust admit thdy've had difficulties but say that p`tient

I am happy we are providing a safe level of care but I am not happy

some people have had delays in care which have obviously been

distressing for them and I `pologise to those people who have not had the

best experience of our care. But I am confident we are getting the

right care but it is taking longer than we want and our efforts are

focused on improving that. All new hospitals will go through a

settling period but that isn't much comfort for those who need the

emergency services now. Earlier I spoke to our health

correspondent about the clahms. A number of calls from hosphtal

staff since this evening's report on Points West. One staff nursd told me

"I filed incident reports mxself when situations have been unsafe".

She told me that at times there s been one nurse to 16 patients in

corridor areas. She says, "We just dread going to work. I'm le`ving the

NHS because this is so bad, and a number of my colleagues are

leaving". These sound significant problems,

but are they just teething problems? Well, I have spoken to constltants

at the hospital who told me, off the record, they expected this type of

thing to happen for the first three months. Because of the scald of this

huge challenge to set up thhs new hospital, things go slowly, new

systems take a long time to get up and working. But if this is still

going on after three months, serious questions will be asked

Matthew Hill, thank you verx much. A man has been arrested on suspicion

of murder after a death at ` care home near Bristol. Police wdre

called to the Oak Tree Housd care home in Yate yesterday afternoon,

after an elderly woman died suddenly. A 33` year`old man has

been arrested. Police say hd's not a A young man from Syria, who's now

living in Swindon says he w`nts the world to know the trauma of being an

asylym seeker. Mohamed Abdo has been speaking at an event in the town

tonight as part of National Refugee Week. He says he fled Syria last

year on the back of lorries and taxis after leading student

opposition to the Assad reghme. This is no ordinary Swindon

resident. At the age of 23, Mohamed Abdo has led resistance to `n

oppressive regime. Hidden in a mountain cave for days and helped

save the lives of hundreds of his fellow asylum seekers when their

overloaded boat got lost in the Mediterranean. He didn't want to

leave Syria in the first pl`ce. I left Syria because my lifd was in

danger. If I stay in Syria H will die. This is the first reason. My

political activity pushed md to go. How dangerous wasn't for yot to

leave? The way I came to the UK was

very, very dangerous. This is why he had to go. In footage

shown exclusively to Points West, this is Mohamed filming

demonstrations against Preshdent Assad in Aleppo in 2012. He also

organised flash mobs. Here he is in the white coat. This re`enactment

shows a doctor being killed by soldiers. 2000 miles away in

Swindon, Mohamed finds shelter at the Harbour, a charity which

supports refugees. Asylum sdekers only get ?5 a day from the

Government until they hear whether they can stay. Here they can access

legal advice, English classds, friendship. But charity funding is

also being squeezed. Hundreds of people have lunch here

every week. But Bristol Reftgee Rights worries it's on the brink of

closure. Lots of charities `re finding it increasingly difficult to

get the funding they need. At the moment,

we're facing a situation whdre we just haven't got all the money we

need to keep our service opdn. Refugees say when they come to this

country, they're treated as just a number. Places like this give them a

voice and a future. That's it from us tonight. We're

back with you tomorrow. But for now I'll leave you with

Jemma, who has the latest forecast. Hello. The devil is in the detail of

the next few days. High pressure still dominates for the next few

days. It is a settled story for tomorrow and for the weekend. Only

the slightest chance of any shower activity. Sunny and settled

conditions with temperatures in the low 20s. A gentle breeze will cool

things down. A decent start tomorrow. " Build during thd second

half of the day meaning temperatures will be slightly lower than today.

But it will still be sunny `nd pleasant. That takes us through to

the summer solstice and right the way through the weekend. Settled and

sunny conditions. dry. With the national details, here

is Darren Bett. Hello there, my blood pressure has

been high for the past few hours. I don't