23/01/2013 Look East - East

Hello. Tonight, the Government defends a controversial care plan

for the dying. I'm live at St Helena hospice in Colchester.

deny someone food and drink when they are able to take it is

completely unacceptable. Also tonight, should we stay or go? The

region's love-hate relationship with the European Union. The mother

of a man from Suffolk missing in Thailand pleads for him to get in

touch. And from the lowlands to the Highlands, the teenage skier who

F St Helena's a hospice in Colchester has been here since 1985

and treats 2000 patients a year. It was in a hospice like this in

Liverpool that the Liverpool Care Pathway started. It cost about �6

million a year to run a hospice like this. We're going to be

talking to various people about what the Liverpool Care Pathway

this. Kim, you have been looking at it. Yes, and more people are going

on the part with. At its root is compassion. But the big question is

how it is working on the crowd in our hospitals. It has developed in

Liverpool in the hospice movement there, designed to give the best

possible care to the dying, allowing doctors in some cases to

withdraw treatment. 10,000 people have been put on the pathway in

this region in the past three years and almost half of the hospital

trusts have been encouraged to promote it. But delivering highly

specialised round the clock care is a huge challenge in often

overstretched NHS hospitals. This is about trying to help relatives

understand that all treatment has been tried but that we now

recognise that a patient has hour was, possibly days to live.

Involving families and loved ones every step of the way his key and

in some cases, it doesn't seem to be happening. The government has

set up in independent review about how the pathway is being applied in

our hospitals. Tim, we have had a phenomenal response.

Elizabeth Edwards says her mum passed away last Thursday after

being put on the LCP. "I do not feel I was fully informed of what

feel I was fully informed of what it was. I had to look on the

internet which quite frankly terrified me - we were not given

any literature at all." Sharon O'Mahony's step-father, diagnosed

with brain tumours, was put on the pathway. "It was the most traumatic

experience of our lives with little communication from the nurses in

the beginning." She describes it as "just plain cruel." Christine

Erskine, from Brightlingsea, says her 96-year-old mother was on the

pathway in her care home in the last days of her life. "I could not

have wished a more peaceful death for my mother. The Liverpool Care

Pathway gives the most painless and dignified way of dying and I

commmend it to all." Andy Spokes says his father was put on the

pathway after it became clear further attempts to delay the

inevitable were only causing him pain and distress. "He was treated

with dignity and no little love by the nursing staff. My father's last

days were dignified, relaxed and pain free." Ann Leigh says she

believes the pathway to be humane, and if implemented correctly, a

blessing for all concerned. "My only reservation is whether the NHS

is a sufficiently caring organisation to be capable of using

the programme as intended." Her fear is that it "provides some kind

of false legitimacy to wilful neglect." We will be talking to the

people here later in the programme. Earlier, I spoke to the Care

Minister and North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb. I started by asking

him if it was acceptable for patients to be put on the Liverpool

Care Pathway without anyone being told. It is completely wrong. The

guidelines, right at the very start, in the opening paragraphs, talk

about the family and the patient being central to this, the

discussion, the consultation, the involvement the family is central

to care at the end of life and the pathway reflects that. If it is not

being applied properly, we have an unacceptable situation and if that

becomes synonymous for some people with the Liverpool Care Pathway, it

has got to be addressed. One person who got in touch with us, if it is

such a good idea, why do you have to offer an incentive for hospitals

to do it? Well, again, this is something that concerned me greatly

when I was told that payments were being made to the hospitals. My

view is that if payments are made to hospitals that end up with

people getting better hair -- care, a more dignified death, then that

is good. Evade payment was made to ensure training for the people

involved, that would surely be a good thing. But if they are

payments being made just two at extra people to the care pathway

irrespective of whether it is being applied properly, and whether

patients are being consulted properly, with the food and drink

is being denied been properly, then that would be wholly wrong. This is

one of the things we are looking at in the independent review. But I

have said, in the meantime, permits should only ever be made if we can

demonstrably showed that it is improving patient care. There is an

element in some of the callers that we have had of conspiracy theory,

that actually what you are trying to do by in committing this is that

people who might live for a month live for a couple of days and it

saves the NHS money. Well, how horrifying would that be. Of the

sleep, I would utterly reject any approach that would save money in

such circumstances, wholly wrong. This has got to be the only about

giving the best possible experience to the family at an of the slee

incredibly traumatic and difficult time. We both know people who have

been put on the care path and haven't wanted it and they have

lived not for a couple of dates but formally announced. So, somebody is

getting it very wrong. That will worry people. This is. This is the

failure of diagnosis. It is not an exact science park we can't always

be right but my understanding is it is usually possible for skilled

clinicians to make a good judge but about when death is imminent. I

think it has become, in some respects silliness with things like

denying food and liquids. For me, and incidentally, the care pathway

makes it very clear that you should sustain food and drink for as long

as possible. But to deny someone food and drink when they are able

to take it is just completely unacceptable. The thing for this

whole issue has uncovered is that standards still in many places are

not acceptable and they need to be addressed. If somebody who is very

old or very frail is watching this, and this whole conversation sense a

shiver down their spines, what would you say to them? What I would

say to them is that my absolute determination is that anyone going

into hospital in circumstances where their life may be nearing its

end must feel absolute confidence that the care that they kit will be

exemplary. And you would want to keep them alive? Of course.

Absolutely. Some of the reporting has been pretty exaggerated and I

find, to be honest, deeply hurtful but I would want anything other

than that. My only interest and motivation is to ensure that people

get the best possible care in the most dignified way at the end of

their life. Thank you. I'll be talking to the people who run the

care here at this hospice later in the programme but for now, back to

Carol in the studio. Hello. In or out. Today, the Prime

Minister promised a referendum on our membership of the European

Union. And nowhere will the issue be more hotly debated than here in

the East. Here's our political correspondent Andrew Sinclair.

Europe has never been a particularly sexy subject. But

perhaps more than any other region it plays a large part in our lives.

60% of our trade is with the EU. That's way above the national

average. In the last five years, we've received around �400 million

in grants although it's worth remembering that we pay more to

Brussels than we get back. And, of course, we've been affected both

positively and negatively by immigration. 120,000 people have

come to live here from Europe in the last ten years. That's why this

debate is so important. Hundreds of organisations have received grants

from the EU, like this garage in Cambridge. It teaches car mechanics

to young disabled people. It got �12,000 from the European Social

Fund. The EU funding helped us get the product of the ground. Without

that funding, we would not have been able to test the ground to

find out whether or not that sort of project would have worked.

Yarmouth has received millions of pounds from Brussels. The town

looks much better. It also has a new harbour. Europe has been very

important in regenerating the town. If you went back 15 years ago, the

seafront was looking very sorry. We had a port that did not have a

deep-water facility. Now, we have got a transformed seafront. Farmers

in the east would struggle without their Cap payments. And migrants to

the Fens have provided a hard- working and willing labour force

will but go to Peterborough and you may hear a different story. At this

grammar-school, none of the pupils have English as their first

language. The areas we are seeing migration to are oversubscribed all

ready and we are working incredibly hard to build places. The is local

businessman complained that the you red tape and the working time

directive. It is a difficult situation when you have somebody

who wants to work and you are told they can only work so many hours.

This company is also frustrated with the bureaucracy.

Tory Eurosceptic MPs, and we have a lot of them in the East, are

delighted with the promise of a referendum. A watershed speech,

says the Essex MP Bernard Jenkin. At long last the people are being

At long last the people are being trusted to have their say, says

Peterborough's Stewart Jackson. But Stuart Agnew for UKIP said the

referendum should be held now, not in five years time, while Labour's

Euro MP for the East Richard Howitt says the uncertainty is saying to

investors, "Don't come to East Anglia". This speech was a game

changer - Europe is once again an Still to come in tonight's

programme, we'll have more from Stewart on the Liverpool Care

Pathway and your comments. And on the slopes to success, the 13-year-

old who's been picked for Team GB. That's after more news from where

The mother of a man from Suffolk who went missing in Thailand has

spoken for the first time. Tom Armstrong who lives in Kelsale was

expected home from Bangkok just before Christmas but he never got

on the plane. His mother Helen says she's prepared to fly to Thailand

Their earliest flight changed I could get was 8th January. It will

arrive at some time... Tom Armstrong's mother reads his

last e-mail. The 22-year-old never got the flight. I just felt sick. I

just do not think he is in the UK. We went backwards and forwards to

the train station. He did not come. I just felt devastated because I

did not know what had happened. Armstrong had been on a diving

course. He should have been a home over Christmas. He said he had run

into trouble, but never said what that trouble was. Money has been

taken out of his account. They do think something may have happened

to him? I cannot think about that. Sorry. I am just focusing on the

fact that if something is amiss with him, if he is not in a good

place, he cannot make his way home. For now, she is counting on the

internet. She has set up a Facebook page in the hope that he was see it

and get in touch. We are a strong family and we will stick together.

We just want him to come home. Whatever has happened, we will sort

it out. It has emerged that a former

student from a school in Norfolk was among those killed in the

Algeria of hostage crisis. Sebastian John went to the Norwich

School from 1997. His wife has described him as a fantastic

husband, father, son and brother. A country fair where a woman was

trampled to death by a runaway horse will not be held this year.

The Nowton Park Fair in Bury St Edmunds started in 1990, but in

2011 local grandmother Carole Bullett was killed. The Health and

Safety Executive says it will prosecute the local council over

the accident. Unemployment among women in the

region is rising rapidly while among men, it is falling. Figures

out today show female unemployment has set 100,000, a 30% increase on

one year ago. Our business correspondent is here.

What is going on? Let's have a look at the picture

last year. Unemployment in the region it stood at 190,000. Most of

those work men. Today, unemployment is 207,000, but women make-up

nearly half of that number. Why is that?

Public sector cuts are one of the reasons. Most people who work in

public services are women. The retail industry is also having a

tough time. Again, most people who work in shops are female. It could

also be that changes to the benefit system are having an effect. Single

mothers are having to make a choice. Previously, they would be supported

by child care support and the tax credit. Those are being removed and

they are now having to register as unemployed.

I should add that there have been periods when it male unemployment

has risen faster than female unemployment.

Thank you. The government has defended the fight did has not

included I unique reef off the Norfolk coast in a list of

specially protected areas. The 20 mile long chalk reef near Cromer is

the longest in Europe. But it is not being included in the network

of Marine Conservation Zone is currently under consultation.

The A12 in Essex was blocked this morning after a lorry carrying 20

tons of rubbish overturned. It tabard before the morning rush-hour.

The lorry overturned this morning after colliding with a Ford Focus

that had pulled over because it clutch had gone. The lorry driver

went into the back of it. If you come round here, you can see that

the lorry has shed its load on to the carriageway. Look at that. 20

tons of rubbish. Strewn across the A12. It now looks more like a

rubbish tip. Workmen here trying to clear that rubbish. It is going to

take at least a couple of hours. In the end, it took a lot longer. The

road was shut for 12 hours. Fortunately, traffic was able to be

diverted. The lorry-driver was lucky according to police.

driver of the lorry was trapped in his cab after it overturned. He was

released by firefighters and taken to hospital in Chelmsford. We know

that he is OK. He has been back down here to survey the wreckage.

It could have been far worse. Thankfully, that lorry did not

cross the carriageway. Getting the When it comes to producing

outstanding athletes, this region it is a match for any. Team East

came away from the London Olympics with 14 medals. But when it comes

to scheme, our record is patchy to say the least. Not enough snow,

usually, and not enough hills. That could be about to change.

She started skiing at the age of six on holiday in France. Today,

Alex Lillywhite is a member of Team GB. And she is fast. Alex has

always had the talent but in the last 12 months, a lot has changed.

Technique and movement. There is a few things, a few bad habits that I

had. I have been working on them. Year 9 French at her school.

Already a schools' champion, Alex has just been selected for Team GB

and flies out to Andorra next week. I think she is remarkable. She is

incredibly consistent and reliable. Her times have progressively got

better. I think she is a force to be reckoned with.

I would like to be in the Winter Olympics one day, but we will see.

Can you see her going? Yes, I can. I'm booking my flight to South

Korea in 2018. Yes, I think she will be there.

It is early days of course. Alex Lillywhite is only 13. 2018 is some

way off. There's plenty of time for other things to get in the way. But

if starting early counts for anything, she has that. According

to her mum, Alex is also fearless and in skiing, that is worth having

Good for her. And now back to Stewart White at St Helena Hospice

in Colchester. Thank you. What we are going to do

now, we are keen not to frighten anybody this evening. We are going

to talk policy with Rosy Stamp, the chief Executive, and Stella

Fletcher. Reduce the pathway here, but we are

very clear in communication with families. -- we use. And we

communicate all the time. Communication is at the core of all

good care. That is an essential part of our services here. It is

making sure that everybody is on board. And everybody is aware what

is happening. And why it is happening. As the patient's needs

change, or clinical staff must talk to the family and make sure they

have got choice and their choice is taken into account. And always

listened to. And always listened to. I did not want anybody to be

frightened by hearing this. Should they be? No. The Liverpool Care

Pathway is about providing individual player to answer their

individual needs. There will be a lot of concern about this and

rightly so. But at least people are talking. Yes, we are very pleased

about that. Hospices are always trying to help people talk about

death. We are not very good about that in society. We are not

familiar with the process of death. The pathway is about supporting a

natural process which is unfamiliar to most of us. And there is a full

amount of dignity? Most definitely. Dignity is key to looking after any

patient. Thank you for having us Good evening. Stadium cold for the

next few days across the region. -- staying cold. Where there have been

at snow flurries, we are also see - - see him more creeping across.

Temperatures dropping to-two or minus three. But where there are

breaks in the cloud, it could get down to minus six. Berry cold

through tomorrow. Perhaps an isolated snow flurry. -- the very

cold. We could see some brighter weather in the western part of the

region. Very cold indeed. We have still got an easterly wind. Were

they have got clear skies, that will allow temperatures at to

plummet to tomorrow night. We could be looking at around -10 or at -12

tomorrow night. Then it changes are on their way. This is our pleasure

map for Friday. We have a weather front pushing him from the West

bringing milder air. Still quite a bit of doubt as to how much is slow

we will get. But there is the potential for some. -- how much

snow. This weather front should have gone by Friday. Temperatures

are recovering by the weekend. A spell of heavy rain on Saturday

night. Quite a shift in temperatures. But that will raise

problems for us because we will have that snow melting, a sudden

thaw and potential for a heavy rain on Saturday. So that could mean a

localised flooding. Certainly not as cold as we have seen in recent

night. Thank you. I want to read one of