07/12/2015 BBC Wales Today

you Huw in the studio. Congratulations to the

Operations postponed on a weekly basis because of a severe

shortage of intensive care beds, says the Royal College of Surgeons.

And fly half Dan Biggar is named BBC Wales Sports Personality

Major operations are being postponed on a weekly basis because

of a severe shortage of intensive care beds.

That's according to the Royal College of Surgeons.

Speaking exclusively to BBC Wales, the college says procedures

including cancer and vascular surgery are being

called off and too many patients here are waiting too long.

Our Health Correspondent Owain Clarke reports.

Big operations cause enough worry without the extra distress

This is a major cancer operation but according to the surgeon

on the left operations like this end up cancelled because there are

There are plenty of incidents where we put together

a team for a large cancer operation and we arrive on the day to find

actually the critical care capacity is full

and that patient has to be cancelled at the last minute.

One of the main problems according to the Royal College of Surgeons is

Wales has the lowest portion of critical care beds in Europe.

3.2 beds per 100,000 population, compared to four in England

The more you postpone operations, the longer patients have to wait.

The college claims the total number of patients waiting

more than 26 weeks for planned surgery has increased by over 70%

in just under four years and there has been a dramatic tenfold rise

The Royal College of Surgeons also says there is much

to celebrate about what is happening in Wales, including where surgery

One example of that is happening right here

After an investment of three quarters of a million

pounds from the Welsh government, this is the only place

in the UK regularly offering the NHS so-called

super micro surgery for lymphedema patients.

This painful condition is where the lymph nodes swell after surgery

and affects nearly 8,000 people in Wales.

The new scanning equipment we now have allows us to first inject dye

into the patient's limb and scan them and we can see the lymphatics.

Also praise for the quality of surgical training in Wales

and that waiting times for heart surgery has gone down recently.

But that was in part a response to a crisis a

couple of years back and some Welsh patients had to be sent to England.

We need an adequate number of ward beds and critical care beds

and above all we need theatre staff to be recruited,

The Welsh government says the NHS is its top priority

and waiting times have improved dramatically in 16 years.

The Royal College of Surgeons argue some specialist

services, like emergency surgery, are still spread too thinly

Tributes have been paid to a father and son who died following a road

Stuart Bates and his seven year old son Fraser were hit while crossing

Stuart's wife and Fraser's mother, Anna-Louise Bates, has described

Wonderful" and their son as "our bear".

A 22-year-old driver has been arrested and released

And an 18-year-old from Wrexham who died after being hit by a car

on the A5 in Denbighshire has also been named by police.

Katie Griffith from Ruabon died on Friday following the crash

involving a black Seat Leon on the outskirts of Llangollen.

An Assembly committee has claimed that parents who have been fined

for taking children on holiday during term-time may have been

William Powell, who's chair of the Petitions

committee, raised the issue in a letter to the Education Minister.

A BBC Wales investigation has shown that the number of fines varies

28 Welsh communities have seen the closure of their last bank

in the past two years, a BBC Wales investigation has found.

Banks say the increase in online banking means there's been

a significant fall in customer numbers.

But charities are warning the loss of banking services has

a detrimental effect on businesses and vulnerable people.

The Wales and Ospreys fly-half, Dan Biggar, has been voted this

year's BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

Cyclist Geraint Thomas was 2nd and Boxer Lee Selby third.

There were also awards for the Wales football team and their manager,

Tomos Dafydd was at tonight's ceremony.

The BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 2015 is...

You voted in your thousands and Dan Biggar was your choice

to pick up tonight's top award.

He helped Wales reached the last eight of the World Cup and was

He said it is a trophy will treasure.

-- He said it is a trophy he will treasure.

As it was getting read out, I thought I am nowhere near this.

I personally think Gareth Bale maybe should have won it because

of the year he has had and what he has done for Welsh football.

Look, it's massively humbling and I'm so proud to be able to

Having reached their first major finals in decades,

the men's national football team was named Team of the Year.

The man at the helm, Chris Coleman, Elite Coach of the Year.

There was also an opportunity to reflect

Sir Gareth Edwards received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

He played 53 times in succession for Wales, scoring a then record 20

tries, winning seven 5 Nations titles, including three grand slams.

Just made a great night and I've enjoyed every moment of it.

I'm cherishing the contribution of so many super athletes,

so many all in tears, so many wonderful coaches and now to

play a small part in it, and making the presentation, the night is

Potential future stars were recognised as well,

the Carwyn Jones award for the most promising young athlete

were awarded to tennis player Matt Storey and sprinter, Hannah Brier.

This year the 17-year-old equalled the Welsh 100 metre record.

It is quite hard with my A-levels and try to qualify for the world

It's not the usual thing a teenager has to do.

Yes, I think I coped quite well and I'm really happy with myself

There was also a special award tonight for Nigel Owens, the man who

In football, Swansea City will travel to Oxford

The draw took place in Cardiff earlier and the Bluebirds will face

While Newport County, in the 3rd round draw for the first time

in 30 years, will play Championship side Blackburn at home.

Now the weather. A respite today but otherwise blustery with further

rain. Looking at the map, wind picking up and rain moving east.

Heavy downpours and 10-20 millimetres of rain. Becoming more

dry in the West with isolated showers. Blustery but staying mild.

Lowes 8-11 Celsius. Tomorrow is windy with some showers. Some with a

risk of hail and thunder and sunny spells in between. Across the UK the

cold front bringing rain, clearing in the East, fresh air behind and a

mix of sunshine and blustery showers. The heaviest in the north

and west, coldest across Northern Ireland and North West Scotland. Not

as cold in the south-east of England. Some showers and brighter

spells later for Wales and remaining windy with coastal gales likely.

Highs of 10 Celsius in Anglesey and 12 in Cardiff. The link pressure in

the brisk wind. A dry end for tomorrow. High pressure building

from the south-west, bringing more subtle conditions later tomorrow and

into Wednesday. A clear night for most. Some isolated showers. Brisk

wind. Feeling colder than recent nights at 3-8 Celsius. On

Wednesday, a cold and windy start. Blustery and variable cloud. Some

sunny spells and rain coming from the Northwest again later. That is

courtesy of a cold front pushing south-east across the UK late

Wednesday into Thursday. A wet start on Thursday. Improving as the cold

front players to the south-east but also becoming colder behind it.

Looking like a more settled and to the week, Chile with showers on

Friday. Maybe a bit dry heading into next weekend. There is still one

flood warning in place for the lower Dee Valley and you can get all the

information on the forecast on the website. Thank you very much. We are

back with the latest news and sport in breakfast at six o'clock tomorrow

morning. That is Wales Today. Thanks for watching. From all