01/05/2012 Midlands Today

Hello, welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines: abandoned after they

come out of hospital - thousands of stroke victims say they are

deprived of support from the NHS. There are lots of indeed its --

injured servicemen. Seven flood warnings in place as river levels

continue to rise across the region after further heavy rain. I got

this far and the water level went up until it was unsafe. 36 hours

from the local elections and Ed Miliband visits Birmingham to

champion the Labour cause. And as the electric and low carbon

vehicle trial comes to an end, what Good evening. Welcome to the

programme. Tonight, a new survey says thousands of stroke patients

feel abandoned when they come out of hospital. The Stroke Association

says there are 100,000 stroke survivors in our region alone, but

almost a third feel they have not received enough support from the

NHS. Almost 50 % reported that health and social care services did

not work well together. This often leads to situations where families

are forced into looking after recovering patients themselves.

As... Has their face fallen on one side. The shocking signs of stroke

when the blood supply to the plane -- brain is lost. Now report says

there is not enough after-care. Richard Woods from Worcester rowed

across the Atlantic in 2004. Two years later, fit and healthy,

training to row around the world, he had a stroke and faced having to

walk again. Looking back he says he largely had to plan his own after-

care once NHS provisions stopped. had some for a while and that got

me standing and able to walk a bit with a stick, but then it just

stopped. I had to start scratching around to find finances. I had good

contacts from the past he gave me money to keep sessions going and

then I really had to start thinking of my own rehab programme. That is

by Richard and his physiotherapist have set up a charity called the

reactive foundation to support people with neurological conditions.

They have got such potential that the NHS is not allowing them to

achieve this. We want to say we are here to enhance and support what

the NHS has done. I feel there is the opportunity to help people who

do not have the help, maybe use my experience in a positive way

although having a stroke is just the most horrendous thing. Now the

Stroke Association charity has produced a report. We have 100,000

stroke survivors in the West Midlands and the survey shows that

30 % of people had not received the correct levels of assessment and 34

% of stroke survivors who had received an assessment had not been

given the appropriate care plan. put the findings to NHS was to

share with each the told us it provided a wide range of

rehabilitation services including care at home and at a specialist

unit. A spokesman said that the Care Quality Commission had waited

Worcestershire as one of the best performers four-stroke services.

Richard was to highlight the importance of rehabilitation and he

is planning to road the Pacific to raise the profile of his new

charity. Joining us is our health

correspondent. How do we compare with the rest of the UK? Know where

his great but as far as care plan is concerned, we perform worse. As

far as assessments are concerned, we performed slightly better. It is

not great. Presumably the lack of care is due to financial pressures

on the NHS. This goes back to the National streak strategy of 2007, a

not entirely but the reality is we are having to save money from the

NHS budget. They are slashing budgets by up to 25 %. There were

3% cure Speech Language therapists and one in five patients needing

hospital are not getting any physiotherapy at all. They are

saying that health workers and social care workers do not work

well together. Is it a surprise? Not entirely. When you have

different teams they with mark -- us and them mentality. From next

year, GPs will be buying all the new services. This report says they

are worried about that breaking up systems and making things worse but

there is the chance they could find new ways of working and making

thing is better. River levels across the Midlands

are continuing to rise after further heavy downpours today. A

poll was one of the wettest on record and May has started in much

the same way. Tonight there are eight flood warnings in place

across the region. The lower reaches of the River Severn are the

worst hit along with the Leam in Warwickshire. Their wrath 30 flood

alerts in place but told earlier warnings have been lifted.

Worcestershire and know where it through by road. 0 along the Avon.

A key narrower Botha forced to wait it out. I got this far and the

water level got this far and telly was not safe to crews any more.

I've got enough food and water for at least seven days. Downstream,

the flood plains of filling up in Tewkesbury where overnight a man

was reported missing. We are spending the early hours of this

morning searching locally. Police have identified this person is safe

and well. Tewkesbury is known of flooding far worse than this and

they are keen to point out they have remained open for business.

there was a lot of publicity and people are mistaken in the belief

that we are cut off, it can affect us and that is not the case.

volume of water that fell overnight and this morning caused problems

elsewhere. In Herefordshire, roads were closed by surface water and

land slips. 14 school children had to be rescued by a Pharma after

their minibus got stuck in flood water. River levels across the

seven are due to be tomorrow lunchtime. The properties are

likely to flood. Another four or six inches to go here. At the

moment it has peaked in Worcester. More rain to come in the week. Nice

weather for them. Welcome to the English summer.

How are things looking with the weather this evening?

Thankfully it is looking dry up tonight and tomorrow. It is crucial

at the moment that there are these brief recovery periods in between

but up there tomorrow, a different story. I will have that for you

later and for the latest information there was more detail

on your BBC local radio station. Tomorrow evening I will be

presenting a special edition of inside doubt about the drought. It

will be getting to the bottom of several important questions, not

beast of which, why with all this rain do we have a were distorted?

A firm which makes equipment for people with disabilities has had a

dramatic drop in orders. The company says Primary Care Trusts

are not spending so much in equipment and feared they will lose

more business when the NHS is we organised next year.

It went very quiet during the mid- part of last year, almost as if the

lights went out. The past year has brought dark times at Quest 88 in

Shifnal. They manufacture equipment for disabled children. We have had

a 20 % decrease in orders during this time which has made it

difficult and we have to find ways of adjusting, and cutting our cloth.

Unfortunately it meant we took a 2% pay decrease across the board and

also we had to two and voluntary redundancies. The farm supplies

equipment across England but believes fewer orders are down to

more NHS cuts. They are relying on this disability exhibition at the

NEC to bring new business. This time next year the company fears it

will lose up to 70 % of its business because of changes to the

NHS which will see Primary Care Trusts scrapped and 8% of the

Budget in England handed over to GP lead groups. The solution say some

is to adapt or died. If companies had not seen these changes coming

in the Health and Social Care Act, they could catch a cold. They do

need to diversify and understand the changes. It is these types of

exhibitions that help companies get a handle on what is going on in the

market. Quest 88 has now Deborah's abide into cycling products to

create new business. They are hoping this new idea will help them

why doubt the hard times ahead. Still to come: electric cars - are

they here to stay? The UK's largest trial has come to an end so perhaps

we will find out in a moment. The Labour leader Ed Miliband has

been in Birmingham today rallying support for his party's local

election campaign. With less than two days to go, the city has

emerged as the party's prime target as it battles to regain control

from the coalition which has run the city for the last eight years.

He launched his party's election campaign in Birmingham and he was

here again as it reached its climax. Winning it back would be what he

needs to quell those leadership doubts. We are putting forward a

positive programme in this election. How we can make a difference, a

living wage, building homes, apprenticeships, answering the real

economic challenges we face. city's new library shows that

global aspirations of the ruling coalition. But like them they have

also face co-ordinated protest against unprecedented spending cuts.

One third of the 120 seats are up. Labour is already the biggest

single party. The Conservatives defend half their 39 seats and the

Lib Dems half their 24. I can guarantee low taxation, major

savings, cutting out back of this that will then be invested into

frontline services. We have cleaned up Birmingham. We have placed

sustainability at the top of our agenda to make sure that the

environment is important and we put the citizen at the centre of

everything we have done. We need to get people back into work,

especially the young people back into work and so we set out a

series of initiatives making Birmingham the enterprise capital.

Control of a local authority serving one million people is a big

enough deal but politically the key test is that the last damp the

seats were contested, the Tories were enjoying a surge in support.

Can they hang on now to what they won the then? Labour are convinced

that Birmingham can signal a decisive turning of the tide

against the coalitions are And Patrick is at the Council House

now. Interesting to see how the party leaders defined their

campaigns. What do you make of their big campaign themes? Well,

definition I think is the keyword. The two coalition partners are

going out of their way to show they have separate messages in these

elections, whereas Labour, a waters considered to be safe ground, on

unemployment. And we are also up to the mayoral referendums. What is

the latest situation with those? Certainly in Birmingham, it has got

all the makings of a very close-run thing. There has been nervousness

on the part of the yes camp. So many might see it as a surprised

abutment where two candidates have put their party differences to one

side to campaign directly for an elected mayor. On Thursday, we vote

yes to an elected mayor, a mayor represents all about people, and I

think that is a great thing. A democratic and open thing.

although there is cross-party support, there are divisions within

the big parties about having an elected mayor at all? Yes. We have

seen very senior figures from the three parties coming out against it.

But one party which is united is the UK Independence Party. We don't

know whether in practice the new mayor will actually do away with

the idea of a leader, and a fat doorway with a lot of that local

democracy and arable Willett, -- and in fact do away with. And also

on Thursday, elections in 17 other district councils. We must remember

there is another set of elections altogether. Parish elections. This

is where our democracy gets up and close and personal with our

electorate. In some cases, they only have a few hundred people in

them, but where there is an election in them, it is a full-on,

all-out election for a four-year term. So if you have one in your

area, you will know about it. you.

Are we any closer to deciding what we think about electric cars?

Perhaps we are, as the UK's largest ever study into the use of low-

carbon vehicles draws to a close. Drivers who took part tested more

than 100 all-electric cars. Data collected in the trials shows

they're cheap to run and ideal for the daily commute to work. Our

transport correspondent, Peter Plisner, is in Solihull at the

headquarters of the company that managed the project. Peter, has the

trial proved successful? Pretty successful. Here are some of the

cars involved in the trial for a variety of different manufacturers.

Over 110 vehicles in all. Here are some interesting facts that have

emerged already. The average charge time was two to three hours. The

cost of the charge was a 30 to 80p - incredibly cheap. Earlier today,

we went out with one of the drivers involved in the trial.

Gloomy, damp and miserable. But not even today's wet weather could

dampen Craig Pullen's spirit. He's been lifted by the fact that

driving an electric car has been saving him a fortune. It is almost

exactly the same as driving a conventional automatic vehicle,

with the exception of it being fairly silent, as there is no noise

from Reading, and it is limited to a top speed of 65 mph. The CABLED

was launched more than two years ago in sunnier weather than today.

In all, 110 vehicles have been tested, but for many of the drivers,

the biggest issue has been range anxiety. Factors such as the

weather - if it is rainy light today, and I have to have the

windscreen wipers and light and heating on, but also does have an

effect on the range of the vehicle. Craig charges his car at work and

doesn't pay anything for the electricity he uses. So the big

question is, how much is he saving? Prior to using his vehicle, I had a

conventional of its -- diesel car and that was costing me somewhere

in the region of �300 per month. And that was at last year's your

prices, so this says me in excess of �300 every month. -- fuel prices.

The trial Craig is taking part in has shown electric cars can be

affordable and are a highly practical transport solution. It is

predicted that by 2020, but we sold around the world will be electric.

And increasing sales could also mean more jobs in the Midlands. The

Smart cars used in the trial were converted to electric in

Staffordshire. Joining me here is Neil Butcher, a member of the

company managing the trial. They are very expensive to buy eye?

have got to remember this is very early stages of development. -- you

have got to remember. As more vehicles come on the market and

prices are starting to reduce already commanders that moves on,

we expect prices to continue to drop. But the batteries cost a lot

of money? Yes. That is going to change a little but not that much.

What we are seeing is that some manufacturers are splitting the car

from the battery, so you purchase the car and then lease the battery

and that takes some of the risk of the battery and the life of the

battery, which only might be four or five years, but you can get a

new lease. And also the prices are much more similar to a conventional

car in that the price of a car is the same and the least price of the

battery is similar to the cost of petrol. And of course there is

still the range. 100 miles is as good as you will get. Many drivers

have complained about range anxiety? Yes. They will not suit

everybody and they are designed for shorter journeys. And we have got

remember most people only trouble something like 25, 30 miles a day,

so for most people these are fine. Very briefly, are there enough

trudging points? Not yet, but as more and more cars come onto the

road, we will be putting more on. - charging points. Sales are

increasing but it is still pretty slow progress.

A former soldier is fighting to move onto land which he wants to

turn into the country's first care farm for homeless ex-servicemen and

women. Tony Finlay says working with animals helped him recover

from the trauma of war. The farm would be on land reserved for ex-

servicemen, in a Trust set up by a family whose son was killed in the

First World War, as Cath Mackie reports.

Two former soldiers head off to their latest battlefield at Bosbury,

in Herefordshire. John Barron, on the left, lives and farms here.

Tony Finlay, who's from Huntingdon, hopes to become his neighbour with

his charity Exmod Ltd Forget-Me-Not. We say to an ex-soldier, come on

board, come and help us. You can do this, you can help them and they

can help you. And while we do that, they are fighting their battles

behind the scenes. Sorting out benefits, housing. As a veteran of

the first Gulf War and Bosnia, he applied to the Buchanan Trust for a

farm. The Trust was set up in memory of a local lad, Alan

Buchanan, who was killed at Ypres in 1915. His parents offered 650

acres to ex-servicemen. But two years after Mr Finlay's application,

he's heard nothing from the Trust, which is now overseen by

Herefordshire Council. I've spoken to Alan Buchanan's nephew, who

didn't want to be interviewed on camera because he said he was in

talks with the Charity Commission, but he did tell me he met them last

week to air his concerns about the way his family's Trust is being run,

and he's hoping to meet the trustees soon. John Barron has also

complained to the Charities Commission. He has been fighting

for his home against eviction. There is no shortage of ex-

servicemen who would love to come and benefit from the charity of his

estate, as well as homeless people, etc, who desperately need the help

Tony can provide with a care farm. A statement issued by Herefordshire

Council defends the way the Trust is being run. Regarding the

application from Mr Finlay and his charity, it says: The Trust is

seeking to expand its powers to allow it to operate jointly with

other charities and voluntary organisations. I have been fighting

for 20 odd years. I am not going to give up on this one, no.

Charity Commission say they are working with the Trust. Tony Finlay

says this is a battle he's determined to win.

Let's talk about football now. Roy Hodgson's first job as the new

England manager will be to complete the Premier League season with West

Bromwich Albion. Hodgson has signed a four-year deal with the FA. But

he's staying in charge for Albion's last two games against Bolton and

Arsenal. Today, the Birmingham City boss Chris Hughton spoke about the

speculation linking him with the vacancy at West Brom, as Ian Winter

reports. The vacant England manager's chair

was officially filled this afternoon. But Roy Hodgson's

arrival creates another vacant manager's chair at West Bromwich

Albion. The job he has done at West Brom shows his ability to build a

team with the resources available and he is on course to take the

club to their highest finish for many years. I'm a very happy man to

have been offered the chance to manage my country and I am looking

forward to it. Whilst Roy was tackling the national press at

Wembley, Steven Reid was at the University of Worcester. The West

Brom defender was supporting the new Albion Foundation to encourage

the next generation of fans to support the Baggies. What sort of

manager do they need now to replace Roy Hodgson? It could be anybody.

Obviously we will trust the board and down Ashworth and those who

make the decisions Torpoint the right manager for the job. -- to a

point. So will it be third time lucky? And if so, is the name of

Chris Hughton flickering brightly on the Albion radar? He almost got

the job just before they appointed Roy Hodgson. And that's when

Birmingham City stepped in. So no wonder the bookies believe he's a

strong candidate, which is all speculation the Blues could well do

without before Friday's play-off semi-final against Blackpool.

cannot affect any speculation. I can only deal with things that of

fact. We have two massive games in front of us and our focus has to be

on that and will be on that, and at this moment, it is taking 100% of

my focus. Albion fans aren't the only ones wishing good luck to Roy

Hodgson. And Steven Reid isn't the only player hoping West Brom pick

the right man to succeed him at the Hawthorns.

The ramifications of fascinating. And we were talking about this last

night, the merry-go-round of managers. Aston Villa, Wolves,

among others. If Now here's Shefali with the weather.

You're right about the umbrella for this morning! I also needed a

Yes! The wettest April on record has not been great. But we have a

mix of dry and Wet weather, so not as willing as as the last couple of

weeks. But with flood alerts and warnings around, this is the number

that you need to for -- to phone. Moving on to the weather forecast,

we can see the cloud has moved to the North and we still have a few

showers and light, patchy rain. But the region will end up much drier.

But a lot of low cloud with all that moisture in the air and quite

warm conditions, with temperatures going no lower than a degrees. A

lot of mistiness by the morning. A grim, grey start to tomorrow, but

at least it will be dry. If we have rain, it could crop up in the form

of showers in the afternoon. They could be quite heavy where they

occur. Temperatures a bit higher than today across the board. Up

tour round 13, 14 degrees, and any brightness, we could get up to

around 15 degrees. The wind will be lighter and coming in from a cooler

direction. Through tomorrow night, we start to see an area of rain

stretching right across us coming in from the north-east. So, what

tomorrow night and clearing through Thursday and more rain to come on

A look at tonight's main headlines: Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person

to run a major corporation, according to a damning report from

MPs. And abandoned after they come out