16/01/2017 South Today

In tonight's programme: A double whammy for the Isle of Wight -

hundreds of operations are cancelled at St Mary's Hospital and some

patients are sent to an independent unit to clear the backlog.

Here at Saint Mary 's they have cancelled all day surgery at the

last three weeks because they are so busy and running out of bed.

Meanwhile, the island's two leading councillors step down -

they say they won't act as agents of austerity.

In a sense we are just dying a slow death here on the Isle of Wight and

short of government intervention I fear that is the course we are.

Also tonight: Powered by cow waste - Reading's methane-fuelled

And riding high, the Dorset biker celebrating a British first

I'm really drained, physically and emotionally but I'm so happy and it

is a dream come true for me. Almost all routine surgery

on the Isle of Wight has been cancelled since before Christmas

because emergency patients BBC South has learned that more

than 260 operations have been Some patients have had to be sent to

Southampton to get their treatment done on time.

With a rapidly ageing population putting increasing

pressure on social care, and major cuts in NHS budgets ahead,

the system is facing huge challenges over the next few years.Our

Health Correspondent David Fenton is at St Mary's Hospital tonight.

David, just how bad are things there?

I'm going to start with some good news, today for the first time in

three weeks they have been able to do some day surgery because they

have been cancelling pretty much everything, including some cancer

cases since before Christmas and the problem is the beds are full of

emergency patients. 267 cancelled operations, they won't catch up on

them so they are now sending some patients to an independent treatment

centre run by a private company for the NHS at no extra cost. It cost

exactly the same as the NHS, on exactly the same contract and

payment method so patients can choose to come to us were rather

than waiting. We cancel very few operations.

The problem here at St Mary's Hospital is that it is not so much

treating the patients, it is finding somewhere to put them.

This hospital is full and there are 31 emergency cases on their way in.

It's been really busy here. From Christmas Day onwards, it's been

busier than I think many of us have remembered it. Over time with got

better at dealing with surges in capacity, and in spite of that we've

had very large numbers of patients into the hospital and really

struggled to get patients out as well. Many patients are elderly,

this man has a heart condition and lives on his own but he stopped

taking his medication. I'm not a charity person, I never have been.

It's easy to say you are taking them when you're not. Age UK found him at

home with no heat, light, no food and no money. It is not uncommon to

hear similar stories to this, people without food and light. We saw one

gentleman home alone, with no money on his mobile phone and not able to

top it up. If we hadn't seen him, we don't think it would be here. Where

previously would have done more low-level support, shopping and

befriending, we are really now going out and keeping people fired and

warmth and making sure they can get through day to day. The older we

get, the more we cost the NHS. The average 20-year-old costs the NHS

about ?900 per year, for someone in the mid-50s that's doubled to almost

?2000 per year and by the time we reach 85 it has risen to nearly

?8,000 per year. It all adds up to a financial time bomb for the NHS,

that now needs to save ?2.2 billion in the south. We will see GP

surgeries closing because there's a lot of them, they cost a lot to run

and many are running out of money. We will see hospitals closing, and

A merging. None of which would be popular, but neither would the

alternative - and NHS that runs out of money.

You mention in your film they have got to save at least ?2 billion in

the south, how will they do that? They are already working on plans to

manage that over the next three years but let me give you some

figures to show you the scale of what's ahead. Hampshire and the Isle

of Wight needs to save ?577 million, Sussex and Surrey, 653 million, and

Dorset ?229 million of savings but that is in the future. The crisis

now for this hospital and many others is how to deal with this

surge of patients they are seeing, emergency patients, but also how to

get them out of the hospital that don't need to be there but cannot go

because there isn't the proper social care. David, thanks very

much. And you can see more on the crisis

in Isle of Wight Care on Inside Out The crisis in healthcare is just one

of many battles being fought The Leader and Deputy Leader

of the Isle of Wight Council stepped down today in what they say

is a coordinated effort to highlight the island's

struggle with austerity. In a statement, Jonathan Bacon

and Steve Stubbings said party politics and ego were being put

before the concerns of islanders. Our political editor

Peter Henley's with me now. They say they were frustrated

with government cuts and growing demand but also frustration

that they were trying to do politics in a different way and found

they couldn't get central The independents took control

from the Conservatives Quite a sweep, winning

20 seats in one go. They were promising to put

people before politics. Now they're saying politics has

beaten them, and with four months left before the elections,

half the Cabinet have handed back their jobs suggesting

someone else take over. It would only be someone wedded to

the Government's austerity agenda that could, I presume, with any real

dignity or honesty carry through these policies and for me is not

possible. I don't believe in them and I think people are being really

damaged by what's going on and a lot of those people are people I really

care about. They accept they may be

accused of being cowards. In fact the Conservative group also

says they've failed in their duty, and Labour called it an abdication

of responsibility, but they say it would be dishonest to keep taking

decisions they don't believe in. They are also pressing central

government to give more powers to a locally elected mayor, what's

happening there? It was part of the plan to take more local control.

I do believe the Government are still focused on locally elected

mayors, and they have a right to talk about the investment we need.

So does it look like the island won't be part of this?

We will know on Wednesday who is taking charge at a new meeting and

the Portsmouth and Southampton leaders have booked a place on the

ferry to see who it is. Thanks very much.

The family of a man killed by a van driver who'd been using his phone

to send a text message say they're outraged he's been allowed

to appeal against his nine-year prison sentence.

Lee Martin was cycling on the A31 near Bentley in August 2015

when he was hit by a van travelling at 60 miles an hour.

Christopher Gard was sentenced to nine years for causing death

He'd already been convicted of using his phone eight times

at the wheel, but magistrates had allowed him to keep his licence six

weeks earlier after he said his livelihood depended on it.

He's taken my brother 's life, he's robbed us of Lee Martin and he is

replaceable and this bloke is now trying to weasel his way out of it.

I want there to be justice for my brother and also, you know, what

kind of signal does it send out if the sentences reduced?

An inquest has heard no-one will be prosecuted over the death

of a soldier from West Sussex in a "friendly fire" incident

Lance-Corporal James Brynin from Shoreham died during an operation

in Helmand Province after being shot by a colleague.

The inquest was adjourned last year amid concerns his death may

Once Corporal James brining was carrying out work in Central Helmand

on October 2013, 22 years old when he died. An inquest opened in March

last year attended by his parents. It heard evidence from Lance

Corporal Kelly, who said he'd mistaken James foreign insurgents

and described how he'd come under fire and believed he saw an

insurgent close by. He fired four or five rounds in quick succession,

four minutes later he said that when I heard a man down screaming in my

ear. In court he accepted he had shot James. After six days the

inquest was halted amid concerns there may have been a homicide

defence. At the start of today's proceedings, the coroner told the

court that the service prosecuting authority had held an internal

review, together with evidence from the first six days of the inquest.

It decided there was insufficient evidence of a homicide, therefore

the coroner 's inquest but now resume. James' family were told that

decision last November. The court heard evidence the shooting has had

a profound effect on Mark Kelly, who had broken down in tears in an

interview with the Household Cavalry. He said to have learned

from his mistakes and will be considered for future deployments.

The inquest hearing will continue tomorrow.

A girl who was born with brain damage at Poole Hospital nine years

ago has been awarded more than seven ?7 million compensation.

The child suffered near total oxygen starvation in the later stages

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has admitted being fully

liable for the injuries, which left her physically disabled.

It's apologised and agreed to pay her a lump sum,

plus annual payments to cover the cost of her care.

Stay with us for the weather forecast with Alexis.

After a soggy start of the week, the forecast is mainly settled. Sunny

spells at time, a cold spell and mainly dry.

A high-tech airborne radar system that'll be the eyes and ears

of the Navy's new Portsmouth based aircraft carriers has finally got

The way decisions about the Crowsnest radar have been made

has come in for criticism from the National Audit Office.

But today in Portsmouth the government announced

the ?269 million project is going ahead, helping to secure

The Royal Navy's big new aircraft carriers will need plenty of

protection. With radar equipment on board and in the sky providing early

warning of incoming threats. Now the Ministry of Defence is going ahead

with the project to fit the latest Crowsnest radar system to Merlin

helicopters like these. Looks over the horizon, looks out

long-distance, looks high and back covers the gaps. It's a big

contract, ?269 million. The Government had faced strong

criticism over delays to the project, but today on board HMS

dragon in Portsmouth, the message from the minister was positive.

Obviously really important to get these things right and it's a really

good news announcement today. It's going to sustain almost 200 jobs

here in the South. But you would accept that if ministers had got to

move on in terms of the positive decision-making, we could have been

here a lot earlier? Innovation is really important and we do sometimes

have to make adjustments during the procurement process to make sure we

have the right cutting edge capability. The Navy is confident

the new system will be up and running, and with crews trained by

the time the first the aircraft carrier becomes operational in 2020.

We accelerated the programme to meet those dates. At the moment we are

looking slightly ahead of the carrier requirements so it's looking

good. The contract is a boost for industry. It will secure 80 posts in

Crawley and another 60 here in have and where they are using the latest

technology to make the new system is easy to use as possible. -- in

Havant. Altogether 30 of the Navy's Merlin helicopters will be modified

to carry the new Crowsnest radar. The money's good and

the hours reasonable. Southern Railway, which is enduring

months of strikes, has launched It comes amid a new row

about whether the drivers' union has changed its attitude to what's

called Driver Only Operation. Our Transport Correspondent

Paul Clifton is here. Well, Sally, let's

see what's on offer. Govia Thameslink Railway,

Southern's parent company, wants maintain a constant pool

of 200 drivers in training. That's for a four-day

week, doing 35 hours. And most drivers work a fifth day

as voluntary overtime, Most train operators

rely on that overtime. Drivers earn more, and companies can

employ fewer people, But an overtime ban by the drivers'

union is biting hard on Southern. Even on days with no strike,

like today, it means around one Now, let me remind you of

something the drivers' Our view is that in the increasingly

longer trains in particular, we've got 1100 people, and nobody on the

train to serve the critical role to say it is unsafe.

Rail magazine has uncovered a letter, signed by Mick Whelan,

in which he agrees to run precisely that sort of train.

Aslef agrees to drive and operate 12 car DOO trains, it says.

The newest, longest trains, carrying the most people,

of the type used on Southern and Gatwick Express.

Aslef says it has opposed driver-only operation for 15 years.

Yet six years ago, here it is signing up to more of it,

The union says it was honouring an extension

But clearly here it was accepting drivers should do what it now calls

a fundamentally unsafe way of working.

Plans to build the Reading section of a new cross-Berkshire cycle route

The route will eventually stretch from Newbury to Ascot.

The first section along Bath Road will cost 450 thousand

pounds and should join up existing cycle lanes.

But some campaigners say it's been a long time coming and parts

Having one big route will hopefully join all those cycle lanes into a

cycle network and that's what cyclists really need because you're

not just travelling down one road from most journeys, you're going to

be travelling halfway across town and you need a route that will take

you some distance. A brand new fleet of environmentally

friendly buses are due to start running on the streets

of Reading this week. Reading Buses have bought five

of them at a cost of a quarter As well as having free 4G wifi,

they've also got mobile But the new EURO 4 buses aren't

fuelled by petrol or diesel Edward Sault has

been to take a look. The regal welcome for Redding's new

royal bosses but this one is slightly different, and Daisy the

cow might be a bit of a giveaway as to why. This is the world's first

gas double-decker bus, powered by a sustainable form of the gas fuel,

and the source comes from cow waste, their bedding, food stock and other

waste products as well. And that was a pivotal reason why the bus company

decided to buy five of these at a quarter of ?1 million each. We have

some of the poorest air quality in the South in parts of the borough.

More people come into Redding every day by bus and therefore it is

important that Redding buses was in the forefront of using the greenest

and cleanest ones available. It also has some devices you may have not

seen in the past such as free 4G Wi-Fi and coat hooks. It's also got

a mobile phone charger, you simply take it out of its case, plug it

into your phone and leave it to charge whilst you are on the go.

It's got some great things on there and it's exciting that it is

environmentally friendly and will be extended to other routes. We have

got to do something useful with cow waste. These buses will be serving

route 33, turning the spotlight onto a Greenaway of travelling.

Straight on to sport and Tony husband is here. I got a lot of

tweets over the weekend saying to look out for Sam Sunderland.

Sam Sunderland broke his ankles, knees and pelvis in a motorbike

11 years later his determination to reach the top has been rewarded.

He's become the first Briton to win the Dakar rally in any category

Formerly known as the Paris Dakar rally, this staging

was held in South America and ran through Paraguay.

Sunderland, from Poole, but now mainly based in Dubai had

led for his team KTM since stage five of 12.

It was an emotional moment as he crossed the line.

It feels incredible. I'm lost for words. In the last couple of

moments, the emotion started to kick in, and it was just a bit

overwhelming. It's amazing. I've had an incredible week, and really thank

some stages cancelled due to the been a really hard rally,

and I'm really drained, physically weather, it was still

and emotionally but I'm so happy and and emotionally but I'm so happy and

it is a dream come true for me. Loads of people across Hampshire and

Dorset very proud of him, congratulations.

Alex Thomson has set yet another record in the Vendee Globe single

The Gosport sailor covered more than 600 miles in 24 hours faster

than has ever been done before, as he continues to try and catch

Thomson's damaged bat Hugo Boss has closed the gap tonight

on Banque Populaire to 85 miles, and they're about to turn due east

Thomson is attempting to become the first Briton ever to win

the race known as the Everest of the seas, a two and half

month challenge against the prevailing winds and tides.

Earlier today we had this update as he attempts to catch pre-race

It's about trying to get as close to our man as possible and I'm

struggling a little bit at the moment, not catching him as much as

I would like. I'm struggling a little bit with the steering. I have

some play in the steering system which basically means when I get to

high speeds, the boat becomes a little bit uncontrollable. So I've

had a few very near accidental jibes. It is still all to play for.

We will have to see what happens but one thing you can count on, I'm

going to fight until the end. We are with you, Alex, all the way until

the end. Southampton football manager

Claude Puel described his side's loss at Burnley this

weekend as incredible. Southampton failed to take a string

of chances and paid the price when Joey Barton's free kick beat

Fraser Forster 12 minutes from time. It was Southampton's fourth

consecutive Premier League defeat and they're down to 13th

in the table. Here's the key headlines from

the rest of the weekend's football. 19 months after signing, Tyrone

Minks made his first start for Bournemouth but it was a day to

forget. It started well enough, Ryan Fraser going over in the box in the

first minute, Stanislas converting from the spot. Eddie Howe criticised

for his team selection in the FA Cup, he now says there's everything

to for. The unfortunate Mings deflected in Hull's third.

Right and suffered their first defeat since September and the

manager held his hands up. They are down to second now in the

championships. It was the chaplain show at Fratton

Park. They got three points despite chaplain missing this first half

penalty. He would soon make amends bow, lurking at the far post to turn

in Carl Baker's deflected effort. The goal of the game not, Gavin

Massey picks his spot into the far corner. But chaplain got the winner

and Portsmouth are fourth in the league to table.

Finally from me, congratulations to Britain's oldest living Olympian

who's celebrating his 100th birthday today.

This is Bill Lucas, from Cowfold in West Sussex.

He's in the striped top, running in the 5,000 metres

He didn't make the final though, which he blames

That's because he'd been due to run in 1940 and '44,

but the Games were cancelled and he was called up to the RAF.

He said the key to a long life is a whiskey every evening. We have the

weather for the week ahead. Yes, a little bit cold at times through the

course of the week with perhaps a little bit of frost.

Sue Cheney captured the grey conditions whilst walking her dog

Ralph on Gurnard Beach on the Isle of Wight.

Lynne Harvey took this picture of a squirrel

And Chris Proudfoot took this picture of the low tide

Quite a grey day with outbreaks of rain at times but the weather ahead

is on improving picture. It should be mainly dry through most of this

week with temperatures struggling on Sundays. High pressure remains in

charge of the weather, it should be mainly dry. The possibility of some

frost overnight tonight and also on Wednesday morning. We may have a

frost first thing tomorrow, milder temperatures for western parts and

we are looking at loads of freezing. A cloudy start to western areas

tomorrow but the cloud will start to be nibbled away by the sunshine.

Sunny spells making an appearance, more cloud through the latter part

of the afternoon. Otherwise it is going to be a lovely, sunny day with

temperatures reaching as high as seven Celsius so in some parts it

will feel chilly. More so overnight and under the clear skies the

temperatures will plunge to minus forced Celsius in the countryside.

Light winds to start Wednesday, and there will be a frost. In some

places only reaching a high temperature of four Celsius. More

cloud in general on Thursday, we will have this weather front across

the country. High pressure still dominating the weather through much

of the week. Thursday, temperatures will reach around seven Celsius, and

a similar scenario also on Friday. We are expecting a good deal of

cloud but Thursday and Friday should be mainly dry. Where the cloud is

thickest we should have the odd spot of drizzle. Temperatures on Friday

reaching age Celsius, so more mild than tomorrow and Wednesday. High

pressure remains in charge of our weather, it should stay mainly dry

at the weekend, staying generally cloudy.

Looking at the weather, Alex Thompson the Gosport sailor is doing

something like 30 knots, we should look at the weather forecast for him

to see what will happen. And we heard him talking there, dramatic

stuff and the whole interview is on our Facebook page. That's it from

us, more tomorrow. Good night.