13/08/2013 Look East - West


13/08/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 13/08/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

the programme tonight: They were taken away for safety, but will

:00:14.:00:16.

children's services ever return to Bedford Hospital?

:00:16.:00:23.

Now the public are to have their say.

:00:23.:00:26.

I am concerned with the consultation, that we may not have

:00:26.:00:30.

an option to bring these services back.

:00:30.:00:32.

That and the rest of the top stories now.

:00:32.:00:35.

Charged with manslaughter - after a fight over a supermarket parking

:00:35.:00:38.

space, Alan Watts appears in court. He's on a salary of more than

:00:39.:00:41.

�66,000, so why has this Cambridgeshire MP taken on a second

:00:42.:00:46.

big-paying job? And, from the electronic wizardry of

:00:46.:00:49.

Cambridge minds to the gadgets in your homes - we meet the company

:00:49.:00:59.
:00:59.:01:08.

with multi-million pound exports Good evening. We begin tonight with

:01:08.:01:12.

fears that children's services may never return to Bedford Hospital.

:01:12.:01:15.

All overnight stays and emergency care for under 19s were suspended

:01:15.:01:19.

last month after concerns about safety and staffing levels. Parents

:01:19.:01:22.

have been forced to take their children to neighbouring hospitals

:01:22.:01:27.

instead. But some have complained of long delays. Now they're to have

:01:27.:01:35.

their say over the future of local services. Anna Todd reports.

:01:35.:01:39.

Last week, baby Victor spent the night in children's A&E at Milton

:01:39.:01:45.

Keynes Hospital. His family say he was admitted at 11pm, but not seen

:01:45.:01:48.

until 5am the next day. They say staff were struggling to cope with

:01:48.:01:53.

an influx of patients from the Bedford area. People forced out of

:01:53.:01:56.

town as their own hospital is no longer providing emergency care for

:01:56.:02:02.

children. You pray nothing happens, but things do happen and things go

:02:02.:02:09.

wrong, and I would like the security to have the hospital nearby that I

:02:09.:02:14.

could take my child to, rather than having to take him out of Bedford

:02:14.:02:18.

into Milton Keynes, or even Luton or Dunstable. It is different dealing

:02:18.:02:23.

with young children than adults, which is my field. Children go down

:02:23.:02:28.

the tubes far quicker than adults do. They bounce back quicker, but

:02:28.:02:32.

they go off quicker. You have got a limited amount of time in which to

:02:32.:02:37.

catch them. But in June, paediatric inpatient Asian services were

:02:37.:02:40.

suspended at Bedford Hospital due to a lack of junior doctors. Milton

:02:40.:02:46.

Keynes hospital has agreed to take the extra patients. Yesterday, its

:02:46.:02:49.

medical director told BBC it was unlikely the services would return

:02:49.:02:55.

to Bedford, but today, the chief executive refuted that claim.

:02:55.:02:59.

entitled to his view. From a Milton Keynes perspective, we are clear

:02:59.:03:03.

that we want to fully participate in the consultation process, and we

:03:03.:03:07.

would like the right answer to involve evolve over the next few

:03:08.:03:14.

months. The hospital trust said the current changes are interim and that

:03:14.:03:17.

they are working hard to bring them back in a safe and sustainable way,

:03:17.:03:22.

but they say no decisions will be made until there has been a full

:03:22.:03:26.

public consultation, due to start in the autumn. That needs to start as

:03:26.:03:30.

soon as possible. One of the options it to be to bring the services back

:03:30.:03:33.

safely. I am concerned that there is already talk about them never coming

:03:33.:03:37.

back again, and that is not acceptable. Meanwhile, Milton Keynes

:03:37.:03:43.

hospital insists baby Victor was clinically safe throughout his stay.

:03:43.:03:46.

They say, having taken on more senior doctors and nurses, they are

:03:46.:03:51.

well able to cope with the extra workload. The Bedfordshire Clinical

:03:51.:03:54.

Commissioning Group decides where and how people in the county can be

:03:54.:03:56.

treated. It's led by Dr Paul Hassan, who

:03:56.:04:01.

joins us now. The hospital says it's working hard to bring these services

:04:01.:04:09.

back. Why do you feel a consultation is necessary?

:04:09.:04:13.

I think what we have seen is that the services as they were were no

:04:13.:04:22.

longer safe or sustainable. We want on with our public to understand

:04:22.:04:26.

what safe and sustainable services mean. In a town as large as Bedford

:04:26.:04:29.

it would be ridiculous to consider that there wouldn't be paediatric

:04:29.:04:33.

services, but we need to go through with the families, with the

:04:33.:04:37.

children, with the public, and with all the other people involved in the

:04:37.:04:45.

provision of the services arm how we provide, sorry, how we commission a

:04:45.:04:49.

provider of safe, high-quality and sustainable services which,

:04:49.:04:56.

unfortunately, we have not had, up which is why the services were

:04:56.:05:01.

taken, why the GMC took the junior doctors away from the hospital.

:05:01.:05:04.

Having the idea of merging hospital services in your neighbourhood been

:05:04.:05:08.

around for a couple of years, and some people feel it is an easy way

:05:08.:05:13.

of getting rid of services? It would be an easy way of getting rid of

:05:13.:05:20.

services if it was going to happen. As a local GP, I have no views - we

:05:20.:05:23.

have no queues at all about how providers of services, the

:05:23.:05:28.

hospitals, should arrange themselves. What we want to do with

:05:28.:05:37.

our public is commission the highest possible quality of services for our

:05:37.:05:42.

public, and the consultation that we are starting over the next week or

:05:42.:05:48.

so is designed to involve everybody in drawing up the various options

:05:48.:05:53.

that there will be in order to do this. Many thank you for your time.

:05:53.:05:57.

A jury's been told that a man accused of murdering a Milton Keynes

:05:57.:06:00.

teenager 13 years ago was linked to the case after a sexual assault on

:06:00.:06:03.

another woman. Restaurant worker Shahidul Ahmed from Bletchley was

:06:03.:06:07.

arrested in 2010 after his DNA was matched to that found at the scene

:06:07.:06:09.

where Rachel Manning's body was discovered. Our reporter Neil

:06:09.:06:15.

Bradford was in court. So, the court heard details of how Mr Ahmed became

:06:15.:06:25.
:06:25.:06:27.

a suspect? That's right. It was two years after Rachel Manning's murder

:06:27.:06:31.

when the 41-year-old was arrested. His DNA was entered onto the

:06:31.:06:35.

national database and it was found to match a sample taken from a

:06:35.:06:39.

steering lock found near the scene will stop it was used to eat Rachel

:06:39.:06:47.

Manning around the head of wobbly after she had been strangled -- to

:06:47.:06:54.

eat Rachel Manning around the head. She went missing after attending a

:06:54.:06:59.

fancy dress party. Her boyfriend he was with her that night was

:06:59.:07:03.

subsequently convicted of her murder, but his conviction was

:07:03.:07:08.

quashed in 2008. The jury here at Luton Crown Court must decide

:07:08.:07:13.

whether this restaurant Walker -- workup was responsible for her

:07:13.:07:19.

murder. Other than the DNA, what is the prosecution's case? The jury

:07:19.:07:25.

heard that there was also a hair found on Rachel Manning's clothing,

:07:25.:07:34.

which was probably belonging to Shahidul Ahmed. The DNA and that

:07:34.:07:39.

hair, the prosecutor says, formed the five banks of the case. The

:07:39.:07:44.

others are that Shahidul Ahmed knows the local area particularly well,

:07:44.:07:49.

and also he sold his car just eight days after Rachel Manning's murder.

:07:49.:07:53.

Finally, his previous conviction for sexual assault mean they believe he

:07:53.:07:57.

is capable of this crime. The trial continues.

:07:57.:08:00.

A man has been in court this morning charged with manslaughter after a

:08:00.:08:03.

grandfather died following an argument in a supermarket car park.

:08:03.:08:07.

Alan Watts, who is 65 and from Biggleswade, will be sent to Crown

:08:07.:08:13.

Court for trial. Emma Baugh has the details.

:08:13.:08:16.

Charged yesterday morning and leaving court today on a brief

:08:16.:08:21.

appearance to face a single charge of manslaughter. Alan Watts spoke

:08:21.:08:24.

only to confirm his name in a very short hearing which lasted less than

:08:24.:08:30.

five minutes. He was released on bail with a number of conditions,

:08:30.:08:35.

that he must surrender his passport, that he must not drive or visit the

:08:35.:08:39.

Asda store in Biggleswade. It was less than two weeks ago that the

:08:39.:08:43.

supermarket car park is reportedly became the scene of a dispute

:08:43.:08:46.

between Alan Watts and another man. It was here on Saturday, August

:08:47.:08:53.

three that the argument was reported to have taken place in the disabled

:08:53.:08:58.

parking area. A 64-year-old man Brian Holmes, was later found to

:08:58.:09:02.

have serious head injuries and he died in hospital the following day.

:09:02.:09:08.

Brian Holmes was a grandfather who lived in a nearby town. His family

:09:08.:09:12.

said he had just been given the all clear from cancer. Little is known

:09:12.:09:17.

about the details of what happened, and police have appealed for

:09:17.:09:20.

witnesses. Alan Watts will now appear in court in Luton before the

:09:20.:09:26.

end of the month. He will then face a Crown Court trial.

:09:26.:09:29.

The debate over whether MPs should have second jobs re-ingnited today.

:09:29.:09:32.

Sir Jim Paice who represents South East Cambridgeshire has landed a job

:09:32.:09:37.

as the Chairman of First Milk, the UK's largest farmer-owned dairy. The

:09:37.:09:41.

former Agriculture Minister begins the role in October. It'll only be

:09:41.:09:49.

one day a week, but will constituents support him?

:09:49.:09:53.

I would say it is impossible. On one county has got to look after the

:09:53.:09:57.

people, but he has also got to look after the shareholders, and the two

:09:57.:10:01.

don't tally at all. I think it is a conflict of interest. How can you

:10:01.:10:07.

concentrate on two things? He has obviously got good commercial

:10:07.:10:12.

knowledge and experience which justifies his position. The chances

:10:12.:10:17.

are he will do a very good job. I don't see how it can compromise

:10:17.:10:21.

things. Jim Paice has already announced he'll step down as an MP

:10:21.:10:25.

at the next General Election in 2015. So, why didn't he wait until

:10:25.:10:31.

then to take up a new role? I asked him this afternoon.

:10:31.:10:36.

Well, things don't always work on a precise timetable. It is not too

:10:36.:10:42.

years, it is only 14 or 15 months. Even so, it does mean there will be

:10:42.:10:47.

an overlap. It is a very part-time role that I am taking on. I am

:10:47.:10:50.

certainly still intending to look after my constituents to the best of

:10:50.:10:55.

my ability, as I have always done. But not everyone agrees that MPs

:10:55.:11:00.

should have second jobs. Ed Miliband raised it very recently. People want

:11:00.:11:05.

to put a stop to what you are doing. I think that is outrageous, and I

:11:05.:11:08.

think Ed Miliband is entirely wrong. I don't think the general public in

:11:08.:11:12.

this country want a professional political class with no contact with

:11:13.:11:20.

the rest of the country. There are people practising as GPs, several

:11:20.:11:24.

practising dentists, there are still people doing some teaching - they

:11:24.:11:28.

never get criticised. Either you can do something else and be an MP or

:11:28.:11:35.

you can't. You mentioned salaries. Your predecessor in 2009 was on

:11:35.:11:39.

�120,000 a year. What will your salary he? I am not prepared to go

:11:40.:11:44.

into that. And I will take up the position, I will make the necessary

:11:44.:11:48.

declarations to the register of members interest in parliament, but

:11:48.:11:52.

I can tell you it is a lot less than that. They constituents we spoke to

:11:52.:11:58.

today are quite angry. You can't make comments like that. I don't

:11:58.:12:04.

know how many you have spoken to. Did you go out... Whether they are

:12:04.:12:07.

one, two or five, they are still your constituents and they said this

:12:07.:12:16.

should not be happen happening. Well, no MP gets 100% support from

:12:16.:12:19.

all their constituents. It is not surprising that you will find some

:12:19.:12:22.

constituents who don't like what the MP is doing.

:12:22.:12:26.

One thing the company says it likes about you and why they wanted you

:12:26.:12:30.

for the job, it quotes your considerable list of contacts. Do

:12:30.:12:33.

you feel you are profiteering from your former role as a minister is to

:12:34.:12:39.

mark no, I do not believe I am profiteering from any former role.

:12:39.:12:42.

As a minister, I gained wide knowledge of the dairy industry.

:12:43.:12:49.

Coming from a farming background, I had good knowledge anyway. I

:12:49.:12:51.

passionately believe in the concept of Corporation. This is a business

:12:51.:13:00.

owned by farmers. It is not some big big public plc. If I can provide

:13:00.:13:03.

them with the leadership that they seek, then I shall be very pleased.

:13:03.:13:10.

Sir Jim Paice. Plans to create an extra 500 places

:13:10.:13:13.

for schools in Bedfordshire have been approved today. The council

:13:13.:13:16.

granted permission to three schools, to create new places from 2014. The

:13:16.:13:19.

council says it wants to ensure there are places for all local

:13:19.:13:23.

children at local schools and the population in Marston and Ampthill

:13:23.:13:25.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS