08/09/2011 South East Today

Tonight's top stories: told he had a stomach complaint. Richard

Harvey-Hall died hours later from a burst heart vessel. Now his widow

is suing a Kent hospital for negligent. I wouldn't describe it

as care but absolute slew lack of care.

Police hunt for three hooded men Also in tonight's programme:

fishermen warn plans for new sea life protection zones could mean

the end of the line for them. We step back in time when Kent's

oasthouse were powered by coal. Then we're right up to date as a

pop Princess springs a surprise on Kent students. Pixie Lott

Good evening. A widow whose husband died just hours after he had been

misdiagnosed with a stomach complaint and sent home from

hospital is suing the NHS for medical negligence. When Sheila

Harvey-Hall complained about her husband's treatment, she was sent a

letter telling her his case would be used to help train junior

doctors. Managers at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital

in Margate have offered their condolences. She says she's been

doublely wronged - a misdiagnosis and then a letter which she

believes insults her husband's memory, treating him as a mere case

study. After he died in their bed. Richard just sort of looked, and he

wanted to actually talk, and I thought to myself this is worse.

Richard is definitely going to die. And he did literally die. How hard

was it? It was just unbelievable. You think imaginable, and continues

to be. It's surreal. Richard Harvey went to the Queen Elizabeth the

Queen Mother Hospital with a low heart rate and pain. Yet, after

tests, his wife said he was told he had indigestion and should take

some Gaviscon. He had actually had thoracic aortic main dies dies

dissection. A letter says: "Sincere condolences on the loss of your

husband. Engastric pain is a common complaint which is misdiagnosed.

Your husband's case will be used for teaching purposess for junior

doctors." Obviously there is a real concern,

you want to have the confidence you can go to hospital, gept the right

diagnosis. It is a real issue that you need to have serious

sensitivety in cases like this, and the hospital trust needs to be more

engaging in the community, more understanding of people's concerns,

and get better at the sort of people skills and the understanding

of how people feel when they've lost a loved one. Experts say

symptoms of thoracic aortic dies section such as sudden and severe

pain are often confused for other conditions. I wouldn't describe it

as care but a total lack of care - total DS Interest. Sheila Harvey-

Hall is now pursuing the case through the courts.

Simon Jones joins us from the hospital in Margate. Simon, what

are managers saying there tonight? The hospital says it cannot comment

at the moment while legal proceedings are ongoing. In this

letter, though, sent to the widow, it does stress that Richard was

given numerous tests and the junior doctor decided he had gastritis.

The letter also says that the condition he had is difficult to

diagnose. In fact, 75% of people will die within two weeks if it

isn't picked up. The widow says the one thing this letter fails to do

is to say sorry, and doesn't trept her husband's life seriously enough.

Sussex Police are looking for three men who attempted to rob a 12-year-

old schoolgirl in a park in broad day light. One of the men grabbed

the girl by the arm as she walked home from Brighton and Hove high

school and told her to go with him. The men were scared off when a

passer-by saw what was happening. Our reporter joins us live from the

scene of the attack in Hove. We spland that pupils have been told

not to walk home alone. That's right, Polly. The pupils were

spoken to yesterday. They were warned about stranger danger, and

they were all sent home with a letter to their parents also

explaining to them exactly what had happened. Now, it seems that the

girl had left school at about 4pm on Tuesday, and as she was walking

along the road behind me, Nizell's Avenue, she was approached by three

men. They asked to see what was in her bag and also her coat pockets.

She shouted "No!" and at that point one man grabbed her arm said,

"You're coming with us." She shouted, "I don't know you" and at

this point a member of the public saw what was going on and the three

men ran off into the park. At this stage, the police say they are

looking at an taepblted robbery, but they're not ruling out

attempted abduction. I think we have to be mindful to

all options, because we don't know, we haven't found the suspects as

yet, we don't know their full intentions, that will have to be in

the back of our minds. However, at this stage we're treating it as an

attempted robbery. What more do we know about the three attackers?

police say they're looking for three men. The first they described

as black, aged 20 to 30. They say he had a scar down his left cheek,

and was wearing a black hooded top. The second man they described as

white, and said that he was wearing a grey hooded top; and the third

man was also described as white, and he was wearing a black hooded

top. Now, the police say they are not

linking this incident with any others. Coming up in a moment:

going for gold - the Paralympic hopeful aiming for a medal at the

2012 games in London. It could be the nail in the coffin

for the small boat fishing industry - that is the warning from some

fishermen over plans to protect hundreds of miles of the south-east

coastline for sea life. More than a dozen marine

conservation zones stretching from the Thames estuary around to Kent

and Sussex as far as Brighton are being considered. If they're being

given the go-ahead it could lead to severe restrictions on activities

such as fishing, dredging and anchoring. Our environment

correspondent is live for us in discovery now. What is the idea

behind this? The main aim is to protect areas of the seabed. All

around our coast, off Kent and Sussex, are are species of

nationaliest importance, from little worms and jellyfish to the

famous Whitstable oyster. The aim is to keep some areas of the seabed

totally untouched by human interference so they can return to

their natural state, just like nature reserves, but at sea.

Under the sea, creatures large and small existing in a watery world of

their own, out of sight for for most people. And what also goes

unseen is the effect of damage to their habitats, and so key areas

have now been ear-marked for protection.

Fantastic area we've got with muddy habitats which are full of life

which are eaten by all fish and the birds and things, and also sea

grass beds and salt marshes and things, but this is only one

example of habitats that we have all around the Kent coast and the

south-east generally. Really important are the habitats like the

chalk reefs around Thanet and discovery and Sussex. The sea off

the south-east is popular for dredging for sands and gravels, but

the seabed suffers. It is this and trawling for fish which might be

restricted or even stopped in places.

There's good evidence from all over the world, different places, where

marine-protected areas have been in place for quite a long time, that

have got real benefits and where the seabed will come back in

recover. But some of those whose living comes from the sea argue

that marine conservation zones won't work, and they'll damage

local economies. Being it is a tidal he say estuary,

and mainly mud and sand every string tide to a neaptide, the

spring bed is changing. I don't see they they can protect something on

the move. These marine protection zones, if they are complete no-take

areas, they will be vast amounts of ground we'll lose. With the ground

we've lost with windfarms, we're running out of places where we can

work. As long as it's the science advisory panel actually dictate

that certain methods of fishing can go on, as long as they're not

detrimental, it's not a problem to the fishing industry at all. It's

only people who will be upset are the people who are damaging the

environment. It seems finding that crucial

balance between man and nature on this occasion is some way off.

There is still some way to go in the process, though. It's taken two

years to get this far, two years of discussions and surveys, and next

year, there's going to be a three- no public consultation process, and

we should know the final maps and their rules and regulations by the

end of next year. A Conservative Councillor who was

suspended from the party for posting racist comments on the

internet has left his teaching job at a Kent school. Bob froft who

made offensive remarks was a maths teach at a school in sandwich.

Fly-tipping is costing more than �1 million a year. More than 12 thoul

incidents of rubbish dumping were recorded last year but only 40

prosecutions successfully brought to court. The first free school has

opened in the Crawley, called the Discovery New Primary, independent

from local authority control but funded by central government. 48

chirp are currently enrolled but there is space for up 112 pupils.

In the early hours of the morning in two weeks' time, emergency

services at the Kent and Sussex hospital in Tunbridge Wells will

shut, and, on the stroke of 2am, blaepbss will instead start to take

patients at the new hospital in Pembrey. While the change takes

place overnight, the planning has taken many years.

We've been given a tour of the new 'department as it prepares to - A -

in 1930 two construction was under way for a shiny new hospital in

Tunbridge Wells. The design for the Kent and Sussex was revolutionary.

80 years on, and this is its replacement.

With some departments already moved in, in the next fortnight, A and E

will arrive. This is the triage room where patients have their

initial assessment by a senior nurse. After ten years working at

the Kent and Sussex, Linda definitely ready to move. It's all

brand new, the facilities we've got at the Kent and Sussex are tired,

they're old, and no equipment, no facilities, a brand new building,

it's generally such a positive experience for patients and for

staff. The first NHS hospital in the country to give all inpatients

their own ensuite rooms, it's quite a change from these days.

This new million-pound CT scanner will be dedicated to A and E

meaning outpatients won't have their appointments delayed or

cancelled when emergencies come in. On the other side of the hospital,

the paediatric department is already up and running. Eight-year-

old Jessie has just had her tonsils out. Absolutely fantastic. It's

like a hotel. The staff are brilliant.

Really, I couldn't ask for more. She's been really well cared for.

The matron of this unit was based at the old Pembrey Hospital. Its

services from there and the Kent and Sussex in Tunbridge Wells are

being amalgamated here. It's amazing coming over here. The

facilities are wonderful, it's spacious, light, easy to keep clean,

and the staff love it. For staff, there are final orientation session,

then a week on Monday, the rest of the patients from the Kent and

Sussex will be ferried across by ambulance - a huge operation.

From 2am on the Wednesday, A and E will be opened and the new Pembrey

hospital will be complete. 18 minutes to seven. This is our

top story tonight: Richard Harvey- Hall died from a burst heart vessel

hours after being sent home from hospital misdiagnosed with a

stomach complaint. His widow is now suing the NHS for medical

negligence. Managers at the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in

Margate have offered their condolences. Also tonight: we take

a trip down memory lane at the country's last coal-fired oasthouse.

I'm Pixie Lott. Find out why I'm at this school in Kent. If you have a

story you think we should be covering on south-east today, give

When she was separated from her husband for 24 hours during the

chaos that followed the 9/11 attacks in New York, Christine

Sweeting from Margate feared she'd never see him again. They were on a

family holiday in the city when terrorists destroyed the twin

towers. Now on the eve of the tenth anniversary, she's spoken to our

reporter about her family's ordeal. They were a family caught up in the

worst act of terrorism in modern history.

My name is Sweeting and I've lost my wife and daughter. We were in

the building when it hit. Christine Sweeting fled the hotel at the base

of the towers with her daughter. She was separated from her husband

in the in the chaos. The first plane hit. All we heard was a very

loud bang, not forgetting how tall the towers were to the hotel.

Debris was flying down. Still unclear as to what had really

happened, Christine's daughter paused to take a photo, capturing

an historic but deadly moment in time.

Got her camera out the bag, went to take the photograph, and as it was,

the second plane come in overhead. You know, it was such a blue, blue

sky that day, clear sky, yet there was this big hole in the tower with

flames coming out, and debris coming down.

Her husband was reunioniteed with the family the following day. Sadly,

he passed away a few years later. Some people find it hard to watch

footage, but Christine is fascinated by images from that day.

I'm compelled to watch footage because, as I said, there are two

stories here. There is the one where you're involved in it, and

you're just seeing the little world around you, or there's the other

world where you're viewing in and seeing it as an outsider.

She's returned to New York a number of times since the attack but was

unable to for this anniversary. would go back tomorrow if I could.

As I say, I'm very, very drawn to it, and I feel like part of me is

always going to be there. tomorrow night's programme, we'll

hear from Father Jim Rosenthal who went from Kent to New York to help

Go back a few years, and at this time of the year, the skies of Kent

would have been thick with the smell of hops and thick by a

travelling army of EastEnders on a working holiday and hops being

dried. There is only one old-style coal-fired oasthouse left in the

whole country and it at the museum of Kent life but as we report,

today, the old-fashioned ways were brought back to life.

Back in the 1950s, there were 70,000 acres of hop gardens in Kent.

At this time of year, the smell of drying hops wafted across the

countryside from oasthouse. But now the oast at Kent Life is thought to

be the only working coal-fired roundel left. When the hop

marketing board collapsed, there was no use for oasthouse so local

planning departments agreed to people converting them to family

houses. There was one condition and that was that the famous white

cowel remained on the top of the oast. Here at Kent Life, they don't

just remember the the days of hop picking, but relive them. For those

who smelt the Kentish varieties of golden hops slowly drying out over

coal fires, it was an aroma that has been permanently etched in

their memory. It is a special smell. I can't describe it, but it is a

smell which you either like or you hate. I like it. It's beautiful. I

used to go down to the oasthouse and sit there with them when they

had the fire going. For many here, hop picking was part of their

childhood, an era of simple pleasures, and the highlight of the

week was the fish and chip chip lorry arriving at teatime on Friday.

We all used to stop and have fish and chips, and we got dirty hands,

but nobody worried about that, they were never, ever washed. You just

carried on, and we ate the fish and chips with our fingers. This

weekend is the 25th anniversary of the hops and harvest festival at

Kent life, and to celebrate, a special beer has been brewed to

emulate the ales from the hop- picking heydays of the 1950s.

They had They had hundreds of thousands of tickets go on sale

tomorrow for next summer's Paralympic games in London. To mark

the occasion, competitors have gathered in Trafalgar Square today

to celebrate international Paralympic day.

We're joined live from the celebrations now. There are some

pretty high hopes of getting some Paralympic medals from athletes

here in the south-east? Yes, we should do very well. Indeed one of

our top prospects, Will Bailey, the table tennis player, was introduced

to David Cameron today alongside Blade Runner himself Oscar

pritorous. It is clear these excessors will be working as hard

as their counterparts. It takes a steady nerve and steely

determination to throw in a well- paid job to follow your Olympic

dream. 37-year-old mother of two Sofia Warner from Brighton has

cerebral palsy which strengths and co-ordination but not her will pour.

It is a tight squeeze, I won't lie. It's been the last couple of years

in particular have been a real struggle, but it's got me to where

I got to. In 2012 when I'm on the start line, I know I've done

everything physically possible to comb home with the medal I want.

Hey is hoping to run in the T5 100 metres in London and improve on the

silver and bronze medal she picked up this year. She's facing all the

normal challenges that we face, plus the challenges of her

disability, plus the pressure of competing, representing her country

a year from now. I think I can see gold medals, I can see world

records. For the next 12 months, she will be spending more than 30

hours each week in the gym and on the track. She's already achieved

more than many thought possible but she's determined to find out just

how good she can be. The training camp currently in port

galg at the training camp. This is what you need for tickets. There

are plenty available. Most of the Olympic available. Tickets cost as

little as �10, not more than �45. Don't forget, there will be four

days of road cycling at brapbs hatch so plenty of opportunity to

get involved there. I've never been lucky enough to go to a Paralympic

games, but everybody here today assures me that the feel-good

factor makes them very, very special, unlike any other sporting

occasion. Football: a feel-good factor for

our teams well represented in the season's first manager and player

of the month awards - Gus Poyet has been nominated as championship

manager of the month. Charlton's Chris Powell and Crawley's Steve

Evans have been nominated in leagues one and two, and Tyrone

Barnett who scored four goals this season already has been nominated

as a league two player of the month. A pop sensation, she was discovered

at just 15. Now the ripe old age of 20, Pixie Lott is at the top of her

game. She's already had two number one singles, she's won two MTV

Europe music awards and her second album is due out in November. Can

you imagine the unbridled excitement at Aylesford School this

morning when she turned up to perform live in morning assembly!

And we were there as well. Her biggest crowd to date? Half a

million. Today, though, a small crowd of

school children had been her captive audience.

Hello, everybody. I'm pixly lot! They probably would have screamed

this loud anyway. But they had no idea she was coming.

Hidden away from everyone in the school's nurses's room, we spoke

before her top-secret performance. There are a lot of children who

want to get involved. Hopefully they take it away as a positive

thing and learn something, and enjoy themselves. The new single,

jurbgs all About Tonight, is from her second album which is due for

release in November. She describes it as more soulful than her first

Oh, my God, we can't believe it. This is famous celebrity in here,

and she's in our school. It's nothing you see every day, is it?

Everyone was joking about it, and when it happened, it was like wow.

Pixie says after years of hard work, her success came in a flash.

Yes, I couldn't imagine not performing or writing music, so I

think I'll be doing that forever, hopefully. The pupils had a chance

to fire questions too. I'm Zoe. Where did you get your cardigan

from? This is from Dolec And Gabana. How exciting! A pop star in

assembly. I'm going to give my age away, but Take That before they

were famous performed in our school assembly. We had no idea who they

were. It just goes to show, doesn't it!

It just goes to show, doesn't it! What is going on with the weather?

I'm too impressed. Today, plenty of cloud, but it has

been mostly dry. As we move through tonight, we've got further rain

around, but the good news is that it's going to be clearing fairly

quickly through tomorrow morning. Any cloud that's left is going to

be breaking up into the afternoon, some decent spells of sunshine, and

it's going to be feeling markedly warmer. So low pressure still very

much in control of our weather, mostly dry day for some outbreaks

of light patchy rain and drizzle. You can see the isobars slightly

wider than they have been at the beginning of the week, although

south-westerly winds picking up to around 20 miles an hour.

Top temperatures fairly depressed for us all between 16 and 17

degrees, 17 is 63 in Fahrenheit. So it stays dry initially as we move

through tonight. That cloud cover is going to be thickening. We've

got outbreaks of light, patchy rain towards the end of the night. It's

going to be a very muggy feeling night as well with temperatures

hardly changing from their daytime values. Not below around 16 degrees

with mist and fog patches around overnight as well. Dull with a mild

start from the day, and the cloud cover will be thinning as well,

breaking up, still plenty of cloud around but it will be a brighter

picture and the best of any sunshine, temperatures feeling

markedly warmer, with highs getting up to 23 degrees.

As we move through into the overnight period again, it's mostly

dry where that cloud cover gets particularly thick. We could see

some outbreaks of light patchy rain and drizzle and again these

temperatures are going to be feeling very mild indeed. Not

getting much below 17 or 18 degrees. Fairly settled, but, unfortunately,

that settled weather isn't going to be lasting. As we go forward,

blustery winds, with a dry tart is to the day on Saturday but the band

of rain spreading eastwards bringing light patchy rain for us

all. Then as we move towards the latter

part of the weekend, this deep area of low pressure spreading eastwards,

heavy rain around for Sunday, and indeed very little changes as we

move into the new week. Sunshine around tomorrow, make the most of