17/03/2017 Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West with David Garmston and Alex Lovell.

Let down by the professionals who might have saved her.

An inquest decides that neglect and failures in care contributed

to the death of a teenager who had the world at her feet.

Her death has left her family joyless, living each day without

Isabel is a constant struggle. Life now is about how to get through the

day. A terrifying drive around

villages in North Somerset - Another Gold Cup and another

fall for Cue Card - And a vintage performance -

the violinist whose still playing A coroner's ruled that neglect

and gross failures in care contributed to the death

of a schoolgirl from meningitis. Izzy Gentry, who was 16, died last

May at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. She'd gone to hospital

two days previously, The Avon coroner has now

called for meningitis B Our Health Correspondent

Matthew Hill reports. This grief is not something you get

overall move on from. It does not diminish or go away. Her death left

a gaping hole. Today's conclusion Today's conclusion that Izzy's death

could have been prevented was Izzy Gentry was taken

by ambulance to the BRI emergency department

in the early hours of May 18th. A paramedic suspected she had

meningitis as she was vomiting, had neck pains, dizziness,

was lethargic and had But by 5am, she had

been discharged after But her symptoms got

worse and she later died the coroner said the junior doctor

who discharged Isabel did not take a full medical history. She said his

diagnosis was inaccurate and that his decision was wrong, he should

have reached a different diagnosis of sepsis or severe inflammatory

response in Rome. He should have referred her case up to a registrar

-- inflammatory response syndrome. Evidence from an expert witness

yesterday caused the inquest to be adjourned. She said that if she had

been admitted to her unit she would have given her antibiotics, which

would have saved her life. While the hospital admitted there were severe

communication failures that approach seem to be damage limitation rather

than saying they must learn and improve. The hospital will now

revise the way they train junior doctors in taking medical history.

We have introduced the most up-to-date system. Our deep regret

is that these measures did not ensure that we took steps to prevent

Isabel's illness from developing to the point where it could not be

treated. Our commitment is to learn all we can from her very sad death.

Izzy's friends have given their support throughout. There is now

more pressure to reconsider if they should also be protected from

meningitis in the same way that young children are.

Steve Dayman has been campaigning for greater awareness

about meningitis for 30 years after his son Spencer

He gave me his reaction to today's verdict.

Well, it's all very sad, you know, and obviously we do have vaccines

these days that may have prevented all of this catastrophe,

if you like and we do have some what we call red flag symptoms

but there isn't any set pattern and we always say that the first red

flag for any health professionals should be the parents,

the parents' concern because most of us don't take our loved ones

in the hospital unless we're really concerned.

There was a lot of criticism of particularly the junior doctor

for failing to take observations and also refer it up

but interestingly earlier in the week there was a doctor

who said I would have missed it as well, which just

demonstrates how tricky it can be, doesn't it?

Yes, it is a very difficult disease to diagnose.

The only specific symptom there is is the rash,

but often it can be a late symptom and we say don't wait for the rash.

Don't wait for the rash, yes, that's very big

The coroner called for the government to invest,

get vaccinations for teenagers because at the moment it's babies

and there are lots of babies who have missed that

Well, the Men B vaccine is only offered to newborn babies

and when it was introduced in September 2015 there

was a small cache of babies up to about four months,

so we do see the highest incidences in the under fives,

so it's only babies and young children, three, four,

And the second highest incidences is between 14 and 24

and we would like to see a vaccine offered to that age group.

Now, last year we had a big parliamentary debate in Westminster

and we presented enough new evidence to confirm that the vaccine would be

cost-effective to the offered to that age group and,

The government have started, the Department for health,

giving it to adolescents and also with Fresher students up to the age

of 25 but there is this gap in one of the highest risk group

is where we don't have the vaccine offered to them.

Certainly the coroner feels that gap should be filled and I wonder

if that will go anyway towards it but we have to leave it there.

A lot more online if you have more queries about meningitis. Such a

frightening illness. More sad news, I'm afraid.

A mother whose three-year-old son was killed when a two tonne trailer

became unhitched from a Landrover has stepped up her appeal

Freddie Hussey died three years ago after the runaway trailer trapped

His mother Donna has been speaking at an industry summit trying

I knew straightaway what happened and that Freddie was gone

Donna Hussey's campaign for better safety continues.

Her son Freddie was hit by a trailer which unhitched

We began looking at a number of trade incidents that were happening

We were shocked and angry at how many there were and that it was far

Only last week in Taunton a trailer detached from a tractor, killing

In the year Freddie died, 39 people were killed in road

There were 214 serious injuries, and just over 1000 minor injuires.

But the total accounts for just 1% of road accidents.

That makes it hard to get laws changed.

The Hussey's wish for trailers to have MOT's hasn't been

There has been a safety video made entitled "tow safe for Freddie."

Part of a campaign to improve driver awareness.

It needs to become as socially unacceptable to do this,

to drive unsafe trailers, as it has become too carry

Heavier trailers have breakaway cables which activate the handbrake

if the trailer and vehicle suddenly come apart.

And the breakaway cable is only strong enough just to pull

the handbrake on and then it is designed to snap away,

so it would leave the trailer behind with the brakes on rather

But on older trailers, the cable's are much less effective

when the vehicle and trailer are at an angle.

The Husseys say the swerving contributed to the tragedy

They'll keep up their pressure on the government and the industry

for improvements in the name of their beloved son Freddie.

The hair-raising driving through North Somerset

And the old tunes are the best - the violinist still playing at 90.

A Gloucestershire MP has warned the Prime Minister that she's facing

a backbench rebellion over a new funding formula for schools.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown of the Cotswolds led a delegation

of Conservative MPs who told the PM they're against the

The new formula, which was announced three months ago, showed more

winners than losers in the West, with the biggest increase

being 5.7% for schools in Bath and North East Somerset.

At the other end Gloucestershire will gain just 0.8%,

But today a new report by the Educational Policy Institute

warns that factors like rising pupil numbers and inflation

will in fact leave almost all schools worse off by 2020.

I think one of the key problems is that by 2020 as we find that no

school avoids having a real terms cut per pupil.

Quite simply, the pot is not big enough to benefit

Those changes are not set in stone and a consultation is underway that

should finish next week. Earlier, I spoke to

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who's leading the rebellion,

and asked why he was complaining when Gloucestershire schools

are actually getting The problem is that all of my large

primary schools and all of my secondary schools are seeing a cut

in cash terms whilst the government is increasing the costs in real

terms and one of my heads who I have seen recently said to me that

if current trends continue, within three

years his teacher salary bill will be 105% of everything he gets

from the government, he's going to have to make teachers

redundant and that means that the standards of education that

have been improving in the last few years

are going to start to decline again. But I guess people would say well,

you know, it is an austerity government started by the former

Chancellor who got themselves government started by the former

Chancellor who got himself a rather nice job,

I understand, today. This is what happens

when budgets don't go up. Yes, it's not about,

the schools budget is being protected in real terms,

in other words it will go up It's not about the total budget,

it is about how it is cut The problem is that too much money

has been allocated to things like deprivation and low attainment

in English is not as a first language and that has meant

that the basic amount of every pupil has had to come down and I think

the balance is just skewed too far Excuse me, given that the pot

isn't getting any bigger, you can't blame the government,

can you, for thinking that deprived areas should take

priority over the Cotswolds? If you take a high spending

authority like Brent, it gets about ?7,000

per secondary school. In Gloucestershire,

they get about ?4300, almost half what they get in London,

and the reason for that is because they already get

a considerable amount of money for deprivation and all

of these other things. This new formula gives them

even more money for that and I just don't think you can

justify that difference. Just in a word or two,

are you going to force the government into another

U-turn on this? Well, I hope the government

will look at this whole thing very carefully and in the interests

of fairness, all our children in this country deserve to be

treated fairly and I am sure the government are listening and I'm

sure that they will try their utmost The BBC has learned that

Somerset County Council is to sue the main contractor building

a relief road for Taunton between the council

and the contractor, Carillion, who are blaming each other

for the delays and cost overruns which are said to be

more than ?10 million. There is still no date set

for the opening of the road. Carillion says it's working

with the council to reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion

to their differences. A 27-year-old arrested on suspicion

of the murder of a man in Trowbridge Jordan Taylor was stabbed

in the early hours of Sunday morning in Timbrell Street and later died

outside the nearby Police say they have forensically

eliminated the man they arrested A man's been jailed for 14 months

after a high speed police Helicopter footage shows his car

racing round blind corners through Backwell, Tickenham

and Failand, hitting three vehicles Clive Hill from Radstock had failed

to stop for police in November. He admitted several offences

including dangerous driving and driving while disqualified

and without insurance. Questions are being raised

about the assessments carried out for personal independence payments

- or PIP. Many disabled people

say they're a lifeline, Now the BBC has learnt that three

quarters of people in Bristol who lose the payment are winning it

back on appeal. Sarah has a neurological

disorder and fibromyalgia. But for the first time

in 18 months, she can collect her daughter from school

thanks to her new wheelchair. I can get out on the bus,

I can take the kids out to the park, What a contrast from last year

when I first met her. Her disability benefit PIP had just

been cut and she was fighting to get It was very scary and it

made me hit rock bottom. The extra money bought

the chair and peace of mind. The impact that it has had

on me and the children because they see me getting

the help, they're not so worried now Figures seen by the BBC show that

that tough journey is worth it. The vast majority of people

in the Bristol area won their fight So, does this high success

rate raise questions The process does not lend itself

to people that might have a health The government says very few PIP

decisions have even overturned The people who do lose out

and get a one-off payment. They insist PIP is a better bnefit

than what went before. Sarah and others just want it

to be fairer and easier. And you can see more on that story

on the Sunday Politics West There was disappointment for lots

of West Country racing fans today, as one of the favourites of the big

race at Cheltenham fell It was Gold Cup Day of course,

and there were big hopes for both Alistair Durden has been

at Cheltenham for us all week. It is the horse John who has added

his name to the roster for jump racing's most prestigious rise. The

rest country challenge was expected to come from Cue Card and Native

River. The latter led for much of the race but the winner came from

across the Irish Sea and not the one most punters were expecting.

The Irish irrepressible at Cheltenham.

Could they now turn the Gold Cup green?

The money flowed in the direction of Djakadam and Ruby Walsh who won

Djakadam, Best was in the race, most experienced and he is going to run

home. I think it is their time lucky for Djakadam. He came here twice

before and didn't succeed so this is his year. The West's best hope

Labour Cue Card and Native River. Could those two give their trainer a

bit of history? And away they go. For Lizzie Kelly, the first woman in

the Gold Cup for 33 years, the dream lasted just two fences. Cue Card's

challenge ended three fences from home, just as it did last year.

Identical Balti last year, pretty much. And as Djakadam faded, another

Irish wars raced to the line. The gloss of the trained horse snuck

into second ahead of Native River. It has been a test for us last month

and identify really like it too much because all the pressure -- and I

don't know if I really like it too much because of all the pressure but

Cue Card is a lovely must have around so we have got to enjoy it.

The build-up was that he was going to come here and win. We haven't but

this is a relief for me. He has got up and he is fine, so we will take

all positives. A place amongst the greats for Sizing John and another

great day for the Irish. Gold Cup day here was sold out well in

advance. One thing you can't fail to notice

if you come to the festival are the number of ticket touts,

both in town and at the entrance It's been a huge source

of complaints, and this year Here's our Gloucestershire

reporter, Steve Knibbs. So that ticket is did

for you, is it? It does seem if you haven't got

a ticket for the races, getting one on the streets

isn't a problem. We saw plenty of people offering

tickets and selling, something which isn't illegal,

but you do need a licence. If you want to sell anything

on the street, whether that be tickets or hot food or anything,

you need an industry trading licence and from the work we have done this

week we know that the majority of the touts out there don't

have a street trading licence or a peddlar's certificate

from the police authority the majority of them,

selling illegally here. For the first time people

suspected of ticket touting are being targetted by police

and licencing teams. He didn't have a certificate, we

have seized his materials. We will pass it on to the authorities.

This man near the racecourse admitted selling tickets

If you fail to have a certificate is a criminal offence.

Officials at the racecourse say complaints about ticket touts

are high up the list and with the problem of often

overpriced and some fake tickets the time has come to do

We want our racegoers to come here, have an enjoyable time,

not be pestered, have a nuisance and sometimes pretty aggressive

Not surprisingly, nobody suspected of touting that we spoke to wanted

to be interviewed on camera, although one man did tell me

he was upset his honest trade was being targetted.

This year was a soft approach, a warning to the touts.

But the racecourse says they eventually want

They have adapted, they have seen us out on the streets. We have spoken

to them, giving them the warnings that they require. They have had

information in paperwork, you know, but they are still out and I have no

doubt they are still selling. This year was a soft approach,

a warning to the touts. But the racecourse says

they eventually want We can speak now to Ian Renton from

the Jockey club. It has been a great four days. Some bad tactic racing,

some wonderful result and I hope the racegoers have had a good time

there. Did the new drinking restrictions work? They have had a

very positive impact. We have had no arrests this week, which is a major

step forward and I think we have had lots of comments from racegoers

which have said there has been a positive effect and everyone has

paid much more sensibly than usual. The Gold Cup is always popular. Ever

thought about changing the time of it or anything like that? At the

moment we have a fantastic form of four days of racing with the motor

races normally the third or fourth race on the day. We enjoy it at our

racegoers enjoy it. Still no plans to expand? I think four days is a

great festival and listening to people today they are happy to keep

it that way. Just to wrap up from this festival, ball West Country

winners but the prize, the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Saint

Patrick's Day belongs to the Irish. And thank you for all of your

coverage of it. And with that it is over. And you're in green, in memory

of my late Irish granny. violinist from Gloucestershire

is being celebrated this weekend. Trevor Pleass, who lives

in Brockworth, is as far as we know the oldest orchestral

player in the county. Always on time, always in time,

Trevor Pleass is a model member of the Gloucestershire Symphony

Orchestra. Playing the violin his father

bought him 75 years ago. Both of them still going strong

after a lifetime together. Though there was a 30 year gap

in the middle when the army, merchant navy, and other

jobs came first. I had to give it up because of work

and I went back to it at 65 and gradually got into all these

different orchestras and that was 25 For him the pleasures are simple -

making good music, Playing every day in many different

groups, he's got rather good at it. Once you get over the initial making

the cat noises, it gets better! I'm pretty sure he must be

the oldest violinist in the county still playing and still playing

in an orchestra actively and driving himself here as well,

say he's an extraordinary character. He's and inspiration

because I would never imagine that I'd still be able to play at that

age but it's something He's very special because

he makes a really good He may be reluctant to be

centre of attention, but they're unlikely to let the big

day pass uncelebrated. Any thoughts now of retiring,

and hanging up the bow? Certainly not, no, I'll keep

going as long as I can. I do know how long they will want

someone like the in an orchestra like this but as long as they say

you're OK, I'm OK. Life may not be a rehearsal,

but rehearsal and performance And the pages are still turning on

this inspirational musical journey. Still making nice noises! Plenty of

strings to his bow. Yes he has. Happy birthday indeed. Right, let's

have a look at the weather for the weekend. We were a bit afraid it

would be a write-off but it is not looking awful. Oh, you have an

number, I take it all back! Having said that, not every part of the

West Country is wet at the moment nor will it necessarily be true

because of the next couple of days. The forecast will be dominated by a

fairly windy picture. Not as windy tomorrow compare to today. But

indeed compare to Sunday, which will be notably windy again but there

will be a lot of cloud around through the course of both days. At

times outbreaks of rain. Dominantly they will be in western areas,

particularly over uplands or the Bristol Channel. As you go further

east, you get better shelter here and therefore the line's shell the

drier conditions but it will be milder both days but you can offset

that with the strength of the breeze or the wind. We had a sequence of

waves of France running across from West to East out of the Atlantic

through the course of the night through tomorrow and into Sunday.

It's our region, the bias is towards the rain stopped at times a bit

further east. Not expecting any great amount of rain in anyone's

spot. Western areas at the moment are prone to a fair amount of wet

weather. That will spill across in erratic fashion a bit further

eastwards through the seething and overnight. Many areas as you go

further eastwards that had a dry night, if they windy one for us all.

Temperatures around eight or nine Celsius by daybreak tomorrow. I am

expecting there will be a lot of cloud around tomorrow. Some areas

prone to some further outbreaks of rain. Not everywhere. That sets the

tone through the rest of Saturday. It will be a notably breezy day.

Windy in exposure but not as windy as some of the conditions we are

seeing for example through the course of the seething. As it will

be underpinned by mild conditions, around 12 or 13 Celsius, up on the

day's values. Factor in the strength of the breeze or the wind in some

areas against that. Similarly for Sunday, it will be windy but many

areas will escape with dryness. The key story next week will be turning

colder towards midweek. Ian, thank you so much. He makes nice noises

to! Not all the time he doesn't! Next week will be the first day of

spring. Officially, yes. If I ruled the world that would be everyday.

The next week and on the Sunday politics. By for now.

It was the most beautiful view I've ever been through.

For one second, I was swimming on my back, and I was looking to the sky.

I was swimming across the Aegean Sea.

I was a refugee, going from Syria to Germany.

This is my life, my career! I did not frame him.

This is my life, my career! I did not frame him.