16/01/2014 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight's headlines.

An inquest hears how Fred Pring died in agony waiting more than 40

minutes for an ambulance. His widow describes how she watched him pass

away with no-one to help her. They offer the apologies, they

offered their condolences, but I would have preferred it if they had

sent an ambulance. Also tonight.

As many struggle with rising energy bills, Wales' biggest steel-maker is

pushing to get its bills cut too. From antibiotics and painkillers to

taking out tonsils - the Health Minister questions the NHS spending

money on treatments that don't always work.

Over 30,000 people in Wales study at adult community learning centres

like this one. There are fears today as their budgets have been cut by

over a third. And first day in the new job - Elfyn

Evans makes a great start as a full-time World Rally Championship

driver. Good evening. An inquest has heard

how a 74-year-old man from Flintshire probably would have

survived if he hadn't been left waiting more than 40 minutes for an

ambulance. Fred Pring was suffering severe chest pains when his wife

dialled 999 in March last year. The coroner has described the calls,

which were heard in court, as distressing and horrific. Matthew

Richards has more. 74-year-old Fred Pring had chronic

problems with his lungs and his heart. He started experiencing chest

pains. Wrexham Maelor Hospital was 20 minutes away. His wife told the

inquest she dialled 999 and was told assistance was on its way. Ten

minutes later she called again as he was struggling to breathe and

moaning in pain. After a third call 20 minutes later, Joyce Pring phoned

to say, I think my husband has just died. When the operator asked if he

was awake, she said, no, he could not take the pain any more. I

think, in the end, death was the only way out for him because he was

in such pain and distress with no one there to help him, that was the

only way out. That was the only way for him to get peace. He just said,

I am going, and he went. He just knew that was it. He could not hold

on any longer. This man was one of the ambulances technicians who

arrived at the house just before 2am. He said all the local crews

were experiencing a busy night but he said he could not recall telling

a police officer if he got this unit he could have saved him. The

cardiologist said there is union -- usually a Kennett window to treat

someone in this advanced stage of ill health. -- ten minute window.

Tomorrow, senior members of the health board and the senior

executive of the ambulance service are due to give evidence.

What are we expecting to hear from those senior figures tomorrow? I

think it will be quite a different approach. Today we were hearing

quite harrowing and personal details about Fred Pring, the last hours of

his life and how his wife tried to cope with that. Tomorrow we will be

finding out about the bigger picture of whether there are any systemic

failures that the coroner is aware of and what lessons can be learned.

Having said that, Joyce Pring was asked today, if they were lessons to

be learned, was that a good thing? She was quite sceptical and said

lessons probably would not be learned.

Matthew is outside Wrexham Maelor Hospital tonight. What are we

expecting to hear from those senior figures tomorrow?

At the other end of the country, there have been delays today at A

at Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital. The health board has

apologised for any inconvenience caused. There were reports of up to

11 ambulances waiting outside A at one point during the afternoon.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board says they were dealing

with a large number of frail, older people, many of whom were arriving

with respiratory illnesses. One of the biggest companies in

Wales is warning that it's at threat unless the UK government deals with

energy prices. Tata Steel, which employs 7,000 workers here, has

launched a report into the importance of manufacturing

industries to the UK economy. Our business correspondent, Brian

Meechan, is at the Port Talbot steelworks tonight.

This is the control room at Tata in Port Talbot and it operates 24 hours

a day, seven days a week. These are the screens that are controlling the

blast furnaces and create those tonnes of steel which are shipped

across the world. If we take a look over here, we might be able to see

the furnaces themselves in action. It took thousands of tens of Tata

steel to create the tallest building in western Europe so it is no

surprise the company chose this venue to launch its report into

foundation industries, which produce raw materials like steel, glass and

cement. The report highlights the importance of these manufacturers to

the UK economy. Their investment in research and development shows they

are vital in promoting economic growth and jobs. Energy is one of

the main costs for the company. The bull Tolbert site uses as much as a

city the size of Swansea. It is a large part of the costs and to have

a difference to the European players, in electricity prices, in

the magnitude of 50%, it is really harmful. Tata says it is committed

to its Welsh operations and has invested in them throughout the

economic crisis but has warned that high energy prices are a risk to the

industry. We suffer as a foundation industry as well in the UK context.

That is a real serious issue. Without moving that we are correct.

The business secretary Vince cable said he understood the problem and

was trying to deal with it. One of the main problems is high energy

costs. They have got to have helped to deal with that so they can

compete on a level playing field. We have got to get approval for a

compensation scheme. Tata says it is committed to investment to Wales but

it has got to see that investment pay and the report shows the

importance of these businesses to future prosperity.

To show how important this subject is, only this week, the company has

launched a consultation with local residents about the possibility of

at some point in the future moving away from the power plant they

currently have which was built in the 1950s to one which is more

environmentally friendly which uses recycled material from here and

we'll be able to help the company ease some of those energy pressures.

The family of a pregnant woman killed in a high speed crash near

Wrexham have called for a change in the law. Christina Barchetti died

and her daughter was stillborn after emergency surgery following the

crash. Calvin Connah, who's 22, has been jailed for five years for

causing the death of the 35-year-old. Her family and partner

also wanted him charged with causing the death of her unborn baby, but

the law didn't allow it. Two workers at the Airbus site in

Flintshire have been disciplined after posting pictures of a fatal

plane crash on social media websites. Gary Vickers and Kaye

Clarke, both from Chester, died after the crash at Hawarden Airport

last November. Airbus, which is next to the runway, said photography was

not allowed on the site. Proposals for a three-lane M4 relief

road are broadly supported by Newport Council, but there is

concern about its environmental impact and the effect on the Gwent

Levels. The options include a new stretch of motorway south of the

city. Up to a fifth of the work of the

Welsh NHS doesn't benefit patients and could actually cause them harm.

That's what the Health Minister Mark Drakeford said in a major speech

today. He called for resources in the future to be focused on the most

basic and proven treatments and on patients who have the greatest need.

Our health correspondent Owain Clarke is here.

It's no secret that the NHS here is under huge amount of pressure. We

talk about it all the time. Despite receiving extra cash recently, it's

having to cut more costs than ever before at a time when we, as a

population that's living longer, are placing it under more strain. But

while we know that the NHS and modern medicine can offer a huge

variety of treatment, the Health Minister's argument is that around

20% of what's on offer doesn't really work. Take tonsil operations

for example, which may have little benefit or prescribing too many

antibiotics or pain killers, which can actually be harmful to patients

because they become less effective. No longer should patients think, the

Health Minister argues, the more drugs you have are listed on your

prescription means you're getting better care. And that can cost the

NHS millions of pounds a year. So what's the answer? The Health

Minister says the NHS should concentrate on proven effective

treatments in the first place and only offer patients the minimum

amount of treatment needed. It means always starting with the

things that are the most basic, the most proven and most likely to work

and you drive those first. If they don't wear, of course you move on

and do more than that for people. But it is always starting with the

minimum you need to do the good you are trying to do and that is a very

important principle. It is a clinical principle. It is the right

thing to do clinically. So what happens next? Well, groups

of doctors will come together to hammer out new national guidelines

which would mean, according to the Welsh Government, every pound spent

would go further. But the Welsh Conservatives say this will mean

some patients that are already waiting too long for treatment

having to wait longer and that the policy could lead towards NHS

rationing. But one of the Welsh Government's key health advisors

rejects that, arguing much of this is common sense.

Why should we spend perhaps, we have not got the data yet, perhaps 35% of

the budget of NHS Wales on things that don't work? We would rather

spend that 35% on things that do work. That is not rationing, it is

saying we are giving people the quality they expect, we are reducing

the harm they can expect for everyone who goes into hospital, and

we are showing that we are doing this in a economic and efficient

way. In fact, he argues that if the NHS

doesn't go down this route, it could face financial collapse in a few

year's time. Still to come in the programme.

This golf club was built with more than a million pounds of public

money. Now calls for an inquiry into how it has got itself into a hole.

Tens of thousands of people in Wales get involved in adult learning every

year. But today the main group representing them has criticised the

Welsh Government's decision to cut the budget by over a third. NIACE

Cymru has told BBC Wales the cuts are short-sighted and will mean

fewer adults being able to continue learning. Here's our education

correspondent, Arwyn Jones. Three years ago, this woman's two

young children were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The news hit her

hard and she became depressed. It was only when she enrolled in a

ceramic scores at the local adult learning Centre that she came back

out of her shell. It was completely life changing and it has changed my

life from not only just being able to come out and get some more

self-confidence and a new skill, but it opened up my mind to what life

could be like after that diagnosis. And now the hobby is a business. She

has a company selling her ceramics online. People don't just come to

cases like this to follow their hobbies. Many of the courses can

lead to qualifications and that can help people find work. In that

respect, they offer an invaluable service. Wales has a high proportion

of adults without qualifications than any other part of the UK and

yet the numbers coming to places like this are dwindling. In 2006,

there were 50,000 people involved. Now it has gone down to around

32,000. During the same period, the money spent on it has gone up from

?5 million up to ?6 million. The Welsh government says it is doing

all it can to mitigate the impact of the cuts but those involved say it

is short-sighted. It has a huge impact on families and the

community. It improves skills but it also has a positive impact on mental

health and general wealth -- health and well-being. There is an element

of trying to make sure we are not being short-sighted. Adult learners

can do to further education colleges but here too big cuts are on the

way. It means anyone hoping to take part in lifelong learning will have

far fewer opportunities to do so. European experts say they are

worried by a fall in the number of Welsh speakers, particularly in the

traditional heartland areas of north and west Wales. The problem came to

light with the publication of the latest Census, which showed that in

Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire the proportion who speak Welsh had

fallen below half for the first time. In a report to be considered

by European ministers, the experts also highlight concerns about the

delivery of health and care services through the medium of Welsh. Roger

Pinney reports. It may be a drama but the new

detective series on BBC One has a basis in fact. Even in strongholds

of the Welsh language, few are able to go through the day without

dropping into English at some stage. In the year 2000, the UK signed up

to something called the European Charter on minority languages which

provides a series of benchmarks to help protect languages like Welsh.

Every three years they produce a report telling us how we are doing

and in most cases the Welsh language comes up pretty well. But there are

some concerns, not least about the decline of Welsh speakers in

heartland areas. This he addresses is in a village a few miles from

canal than in the shadow of Snowdonia. About as Welsh as you can

get. But even here things are changing. When I started everything

was Welsh but there are more English people here now. It has only been

three years. There are more English people buying houses here. My

children are bilingual and they have got lots of English friends. It has

changed a lot. The 2011 census figures bear that out. For many, the

situation is more concerning in other Welsh heartlands.

And there are other concerns. This protest was outside a supermarket in

North Wales last weekend. They issue a Welsh language constriction for a

child, which the pharmacist was not willing to fulfil. Access is

highlighted in the report to health and social services. It is no good

having policy documents that Welsh is official in Wales, we have got to

see real changes on the ground. The Welsh government says it is

committed to take action to halt the decline across Wales and the Welsh

line which commission is investigating the use of the

language in health and social care. -- Welsh Language Commissioner.

The finalists of the first St David's Awards have been announced

by the First Minister, Carwyn Jones. Among the finalists for Wales' new

system of national honours are Karin Williams, a lollipop lady from

Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan, who protected school children from an

out of control car. Also in the running, international rugby star

Leigh Halfpenny. The winners will be announced in March.

British residents made more than eight million visits to Wales in the

first nine months of 2013. That's according to figures from the Great

Britain Tourism Survey. The number of trips to Wales increased by 7.8%

compared to the same period in 2012. The amount spent on these trips also

increased, with visitors spending around ?1.4 billion pounds in Wales

between January and September 2013. Wales' results were well ahead of

those for Britain as a whole. Time for the sport news now and

Claire's here. Good evening. Members of Garnant

Golf Club in Carmarthenshire are trying to put together a business

plan after the company running it walked out. The course, which is

owned and subsidised by the council, cost ?1.5 million to build back in

1998. There have been calls for an inquiry into how a facility which

had so much public money could have gone bust. Abigail Neal reports.

The clubhouse and course are open as normal. Thedifference, staff are not

being paid. They came into work to find assets had been stripped -

tills, televisions and lawn mowers taken away and no-one could get hold

of the company in charge. The private company Clays Golf took over

the running of this council golf club in 2011 after Carmarthenshire

offered them a subsidy of ?200,000 for the first two years and free

rent until 2018. But halfway through the deal and having been paid the

subsidy in full, the company posted a message on their website last

night that they had run out of cash and gone into liquidation. To try

and salvage the situation, the club's 260 members are now hoping

they can take it over and turn things around. We have got a very

strong core of membership here who I am sure will pull together and make

sure we are able to do it. We need to describe precisely how we are

going to go about it. The course was created by Carmarthenshire Council,

built at a cost of ?1.5 million of public money back in 1998. The

council say they had regular meetings with Clay's Golf and had no

idea how bad the financial situation was, but that explanation has come

in for heavy criticism. We have got to have an enquiry into the

situation. These questions have got to be answered. Who made these

decisions? Why the council did not realise this company was in

financial difficulty? If you are giving ?80,000 a year to support a

venture, you are allowed to see the box. Garnant are not the only club

struggling. The industry as a whole is under pressure. The problem we

face at the moment is not just the weather and the financial situation

but also the taxation situation. We have got to pay VAT on every penny

we take. A members only club, they get it refunded, so we are that

disadvantage as well. The next few weeks will see if the club can be

rescued but, even if it is, there will be some asking at what cost?

Boxer Nathan Cleverly has withdrawn from his cruiserweight debut for the

third time saying he is not yet ready to fight. The 26-year-old had

been due to appear for the first time since losing his WBO light

heavyweight title at Liverpool's Aintree Racecourse on the 1st of

March. It's fast, furious and requires

speed and precision. Welsh driver Elfyn Evans has made a good start on

the first day of his new job as a full-time World Rally Championship

driver. The 24-year-old from Dolgellau is racing for M-Sport in

the rally equivalent of a Formula One spot. Ahead of today's first

race in Monte Carlo, Elfyn took some time out to talk about his

excitement and hopes for the season. In the mountains above Monte Carlo,

a Welshman is feeling very much at home in his new role. He is known as

the quiet, modest one, but behind the wheel, Elfyn Evans really comes

alive. He has spent time testing the Touraine in Monte Carlo in the

build-up to the first race. His ability is really tested to the

limit. He is relishing the challenge. The level of competition

will step now I am against best drivers in the world. Monte Carlo is

renowned for changeable conditions which can change within half an

hour. We hope we can be sensible and make it to the end of the rally and

gain as much experience as we can. Racing runs through his veins. Son

of Gwyndaf Evans, his dad continues to be a huge influence. The

24-year-old is very hands-on at the team headquarters in Cumbria. His

chance to drive full-time at the top level came last year when he was

asked to stand in for a driver in the Italian stage. On his debut, he

impressed, and M-Sport decided he was their man. It is very nice of

them to trust me with a role within the WRC team. Now is the Key stage

to progress to the top of this class. It will take a lot of hard

work. We will have two continue improving to be successful. I think

we are in the best place to succeed. After glamorous Monte Carlo, the

team will head to Sweden. There are 11 stages to complete before the

finale on home soil. And Elfyn finished the day in sixth

place after the sixth stage. He's back in action tomorrow. Now, the

recent storms have brought an unusual visitor to the

Carmarthenshire coast. This rare marine turtle, normally found in the

Gulf of Mexico, has been washed up on Cefn Sidan beach. Sadly it didn't

survive. The Marine Conservation Society is urging us to keep our

eyes peeled for other sightings. Well, the weather is certainly a far

cry from Mexico. Derek, is there more rain on the way?

Well, it's been a case of dodging the showers today. Some heavy

showers in places with a few patches of blue sky. It's a similar story

tomorrow. More showers but the wind lighter with some dry weather and

sunshine as well. The reason for the showers - an area of low pressure

over Ireland. The air unstable and that means towering clouds and gusty

winds. So, this evening and tonight, further showers at times. Heavy

downpours in places. 20mm of rain possible in parts of the south and

west with hail and thunder. Here's the picture for eight in the

morning. Some places dry. Chilly and misty in places too. And there will

be some showers around. Heavy and prolonged in parts of the south,

with hail and thunder. During the day, the showers will ease. Still a

few in the south and south-east in the afternoon but generally

improving. Becoming dry and brighter with sunny intervals. The wind

lighter than today and temperatures about the same. In the Vale Of

Glamorgan, more showers tomorrow. Heavy and possibly thundery. Drier

later with a high of nine Celsius in Cowbridge. A few showers but most

places should have a dry and brighter afternoon. Tomorrow evening

will be dry. Just the odd shower in places. Some fog patches and ground

frost and then after midnight rain will spread from the south. The

chart for Saturday shows a low close by with fronts moving across the UK.

Not a great day on Saturday. Cloudy with outbreaks of rain spreading

north. Sunday will be drier and brighter with a few scattered

showers. Next week will start largely dry with overnight frost and

fog but, by the middle of the week, it looks like turning more unsettled

again. A reminder of tonight's main

stories. The Chancellor George Osborne has told the BBC that he

wants to see an above inflation increase in the minimum wage. Mr

Osborne has written to the independent Low Pay Commission which

will decide in the next few weeks what the new rate should be.

In Wales, an inquest has heard how a 74-year-old man from Flintshire

probably would have survived if he hadn't been left waiting more than

40 minutes for an ambulance. Fred Pring was suffering severe chest

pains when his wife dialled 999 in March last year.

And that's Wales Today. We'll have a quick update at 8.00pm and more news

at 10.25pm. For now though, from all of us on the programme, thanks for

watching and have a good evening.