:00:04. > :00:07.Inside Out. In the next half an hour, we're carrying out a check-up
:00:07. > :00:11.on the local health service. When disaster strikes, how will YOUR
:00:11. > :00:17.emergency unit cope? We've been taking the temperature of one
:00:17. > :00:19.department on Teesside. We had all of our resuscitation rooms filled.
:00:19. > :00:24.At that point, we would have struggled to have dealt with
:00:24. > :00:29.another seriously ill patient. Confused by the Government's health
:00:29. > :00:33.changes? We've brought in a doctor for a closer inspection. All the
:00:33. > :00:36.sample bottles you could ever need, and I'll throw in a crutch. The
:00:36. > :00:40.Government's bringing in the market place model, putting local GPs in
:00:40. > :00:43.charge. But will it work? What happens when you get the
:00:43. > :00:49.diagnosis we all dread? One Tyneside reporter tells his own
:00:49. > :00:57.story. With fate, you don't know who's going to get hit by what and
:00:57. > :01:07.when. I never knew it would be me. Stories from the heart of the North
:01:07. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:18.East and Cumbria, this is Inside This winter, more people than ever
:01:18. > :01:24.have been pitching up at A&E, some seriously ill, others just
:01:24. > :01:28.seriously worried. But dealing with so many patients has put emergency
:01:28. > :01:37.staff in our region under intense pressure. And I want to know: Can
:01:37. > :01:41.A&E cope or is radical surgery the One of the biggest A&E units in the
:01:42. > :01:48.North in its busiest month. Nearly 200 people turn up at North Tees in
:01:48. > :01:51.Stockton every day in January. Dr Moy has just started night shift.
:01:51. > :01:54.If you're worried at all, please just bring him back and I think
:01:54. > :01:57.he'll be grand, OK? Thank you very much. Not at all. Good night.
:01:57. > :02:00.Before I had even got changed, I had to run into the resuscitation
:02:00. > :02:03.room and resuscitate a gentleman who had suffered a cardiac arrest,
:02:03. > :02:06.get his heart re-started and then arrange to have him transferred.
:02:06. > :02:11.That was the start of my evening! Every A&E department is in the same
:02:11. > :02:16.boat: Too many patients, too few beds. The number of people using
:02:16. > :02:19.A&E in the North East has risen 20% in four years. Last year, nearly
:02:19. > :02:22.one million people turned up at their emergency departments. And
:02:22. > :02:29.the knock-on effect? Ambulances queuing outside some A&Es, leaving
:02:29. > :02:32.patients stranded. I do think patients' lives are put at risk,
:02:32. > :02:36.yes. It's shocking, to be quite honest. Teesside paramedic and
:02:36. > :02:42.Unison rep Alan Short retired in 2011. As a rapid response driver
:02:42. > :02:46.working alone, he was first on the scene. We had a little lady who'd
:02:46. > :02:51.slipped in the snow and broke the neck of her femur. Obviously, we
:02:51. > :02:54.couldn't move her. We called for a vehicle, no vehicle available. So
:02:54. > :02:57.relatives and neighbours were going round and they were bringing out
:02:57. > :03:00.phone directories as I was trying to lift her up, which was painful
:03:00. > :03:06.for her because to slide the directories and blankets underneath
:03:06. > :03:11.her to try and keep her off the snow. That lady in the snow waited
:03:11. > :03:15.for two hours. What can be a big problem is when we have ambulances
:03:15. > :03:17.arriving at a rate faster than we can move the patients on and the
:03:17. > :03:20.ambulances have to queue to unload their patients. Unfortuantely, they
:03:20. > :03:28.often have to wait in a corridor. Although the paramedics stay with
:03:28. > :03:34.them, it's not the safest of What's coming, Ange? Frontline
:03:34. > :03:41.staff are all feeling the pressure. There's an elderly lady coming in
:03:41. > :03:44.who sounds pretty sick. So we'll need to sort that out. You're
:03:44. > :03:46.constantly aware that there are more patients arriving than you can
:03:46. > :03:52.safely manage, and you're constantly worrying about not what
:03:52. > :03:57.you have to deal with but what you know is coming in. How are you?
:03:57. > :04:01.just my leg's got loads of spots. It HAS got loads of spots!
:04:01. > :04:04.what's the solution to overstretched A&Es? Surely it's to
:04:04. > :04:09.open more emergency departments. But apparently not. Current
:04:09. > :04:13.thinking is to have fewer specialised centres. And that means
:04:13. > :04:19.closing some A&E units down, and it's happening already. Bishop
:04:19. > :04:25.Auckland shut in 2009 and Hartlepool closed in 2011. There
:04:25. > :04:27.are now 16 A&E departments in our region. Soon, there will be fewer.
:04:27. > :04:32.Both Hartlepool and North Tees Hospitals will close altogether
:04:32. > :04:35.when a new hospital opens in Wynyard. That's proposed for 2017.
:04:35. > :04:41.Further north, a "super" emergency care hospital in East Cramlington
:04:41. > :04:45.is due to open in 2015. It'll serve a huge patch from Haltwhistle, an
:04:45. > :04:53.hour by car - to Berwick, an hour and 25 minutes, but the argument is
:04:53. > :04:56.you'll get the best acute care 24/7, even if you have to travel further.
:04:56. > :04:59.When it opens, Wansbeck, North Tyneside and Hexham hospitals will
:04:59. > :05:09.have an A&E walk-in in effect, a minor injuries service, not an
:05:09. > :05:13.emergency department. If I have a heart attack tomorrow, I want to be
:05:13. > :05:16.able to have 21st century care! Now, if that means I've got to travel a
:05:16. > :05:19.bit further to get it, that's what I want. One of the consequences of
:05:19. > :05:23.modern medicine is you need super- specialised people to deliver those
:05:23. > :05:26.new kinds of care. And where we used to be able to have, perhaps,
:05:26. > :05:29.just a junior doctor looking on over emergencies in every hospital,
:05:29. > :05:39.now that super-specialist care is tending to be centralised in fewer
:05:39. > :05:41.
:05:41. > :05:45.But closing A&E departments is hugely contentious. If in doubt,
:05:45. > :05:48.come to Hartlepool. We have a hospital. We should have an
:05:48. > :05:54.accident & emergency. I think it's terrible. I think it's really
:05:54. > :05:58.scandalous. I take it you're not happy. No, it's rubbish. The thing
:05:58. > :06:03.is, I have not found one person today who doesn't think that.
:06:03. > :06:07.nearest A&E is here in Stockton, 13 miles away. But clinicians say the
:06:07. > :06:11.changes, which happened 18 months ago, are for the best. The old A&E
:06:11. > :06:15.in Hartlepool was chronically understaffed. In my view, we
:06:15. > :06:19.couldn't have kept it open, not safely, not to the level that I
:06:19. > :06:23.would have been happy with. When someone came in who was seriously
:06:23. > :06:27.ill, they were going to get treated as well as I would want to be
:06:27. > :06:31.treated, or any of my family would want to be treated. And I think one
:06:31. > :06:34.of the things to make clear is I live in Harlepool, so I knew what I
:06:34. > :06:37.was talking about. Couldn't you have got more staff in, then?
:06:38. > :06:40.have loved to have got more staff in. It wasn't through lack of
:06:40. > :06:43.trying, it wasn't through lack of getting the finance. We've actually
:06:43. > :06:48.been out to India to recruit doctors. But there is really a
:06:48. > :06:50.national shortage of doctors for emergency departments.
:06:50. > :06:56.Hartlepool, they've split the service emergencies go to A&E in
:06:56. > :07:00.Stockton. But if you're an urgent case but not a medical emergency -
:07:00. > :07:04.you'll come here. Supporters say it's the best way to lance that
:07:04. > :07:09.boil of overcrowded A&E units. It sounds great on paper, but how does
:07:09. > :07:14.it work in practice? It's called the One Life centre, in the middle
:07:15. > :07:19.of Hartlepool. I've got that stuck on my finger. So about what time
:07:19. > :07:23.did it happen? About 30 minutes ago. Doesn't hurt. It's only a finger,
:07:23. > :07:27.isn't it? I've got another nine! LAUGHS That's what we need to be
:07:27. > :07:30.careful of, to make sure it's not in the bone. So I'll send you for
:07:30. > :07:34.the X-ray, and we'll know more when you've had the X-ray. We'll be back
:07:34. > :07:37.to see how Michael gets on, but meanwhile, in Stockton, A&E is full.
:07:37. > :07:44.A baby with suspected meningitis arrives by ambulance from
:07:44. > :07:47.Hartlepool. I phoned the NHS Direct and they sent me to the One Life.
:07:47. > :07:50.They made an appointment in the walk-in centre, and they said it
:07:50. > :07:54.was an urgent reaction. And then, when I took him home, he started
:07:54. > :07:58.going purple. So I phoned the NHS again and they sent an ambulance
:07:58. > :08:01.out for him, brought us here. It's been the worst day of my life.
:08:01. > :08:06.Konor is is fine, but he's been bounced around the new system,
:08:06. > :08:09.finally ending up in A&E. A familiar story to readers of the
:08:09. > :08:15.Hartlepool Mail, who complained in their droves about the One Life
:08:15. > :08:20.centre. Back in the market, people tell me worryingly - how even the
:08:20. > :08:24.experts are confused. My daughter's epileptic and she had quite a bad
:08:24. > :08:29.fit one day. We called the ambulance because her head was cut
:08:29. > :08:33.open. And they couldn't decide where she had to go. THEY didn't
:08:33. > :08:40.know? No. They phoned the One Life centre, they couldn't decide,
:08:40. > :08:45.because head was cut open, where she should go. And I was sat there,
:08:45. > :08:48.watching her bleed heavily for 20 minutes. It's not working, is it,
:08:48. > :08:52.really? Yes, it is. I feel it's working. Some patients will be sent
:08:52. > :08:55.from the One Life centre to other places. They'll be sent from our
:08:55. > :08:58.minor injuries unit to other places. But having said that, when you had
:08:58. > :09:03.accident & emergency working in Hartlepool, people were sent to
:09:03. > :09:07.other places. Everything, hopefully, will settle down. I think things
:09:07. > :09:10.are getting better than they were in the first few months, but there
:09:11. > :09:12.will always be times when people make mistakes. But Dr Clive Peedell,
:09:12. > :09:17.a consultant oncologist in Middlesbrough, thinks closing
:09:17. > :09:22.emergency units is all about saving money. He's campaigning against
:09:22. > :09:26.health reform, including A&E closure. We've called for a
:09:26. > :09:30.moratorium on A&E closures up and down the country. Most of it's
:09:30. > :09:33.actually financially-based. We've been told that it's going to be
:09:33. > :09:37.clinically-based. And until things are clinically proven, we think
:09:37. > :09:40.that's unacceptable. Right, Michael. We've got you in the fracture unit,
:09:40. > :09:44.coming in at five past two today. That's over at Hartlepool Hospital
:09:44. > :09:47.in the outpatient department. Do you know where that is? The nail's
:09:47. > :09:52.gone into the bone. Michael has to go to the hospital to have it
:09:52. > :09:55.removed. You're not one of the big bosses, so you're on the ground
:09:55. > :09:58.here. Do you think it's better for patients? I think it's better for
:09:58. > :10:01.minor injuries because, obviously, the service is dedicated to them.
:10:01. > :10:04.And they're not... I mean, they're not waiting with all the other
:10:04. > :10:07.patients that are in the department as well, so it's a lot quicker.
:10:07. > :10:12.think the service is very good, the care's very good. They've done
:10:12. > :10:14.everything they could to help me with me problem. The North East
:10:14. > :10:19.Ambulance Service says it works closely with all hospitals to
:10:19. > :10:22.ensure patients arrive and are admitted as quickly as possible.
:10:22. > :10:30.Cure or kill - opinion's divided on whether having fewer, specialised
:10:30. > :10:36.emergency departments will save A&E. But for now, back on night shift.
:10:36. > :10:39.It's been busy. We had all of our resuscitation rooms filled. At that
:10:39. > :10:43.point, we would have struggled to have dealt with another seriously
:10:43. > :10:45.ill patient. Potentially, there could have been a brief period in
:10:45. > :10:49.which a patient would have been left waiting without a
:10:49. > :10:52.resuscitation facility. If it becomes as bad as it has been over
:10:52. > :11:02.the last ten years, then I wouldn't think the ambulance service or the
:11:02. > :11:06.hospital would be able to cope. For 65 years, the National Health
:11:06. > :11:10.Service has been there to look after us when we're ill. But in
:11:10. > :11:16.just ten weeks' time, the NHS will undergo the biggest shake-up in its
:11:16. > :11:23.history. So what DOES that mean for us, the patients? We asked TV
:11:23. > :11:28.doctor and comedian Phil Hammond to This is lovely, madam, because this
:11:28. > :11:32.inhaler would actually go with your coat. And a free examination. Do
:11:32. > :11:36.you want to come here and cough, sir? I can give you those half
:11:36. > :11:40.price. Plus something for your water retention. What do you
:11:40. > :11:45.reckon? I'm a GP. And today, I'm taking healthcare into the
:11:45. > :11:49.community, where it's needed. All the sample bottles you could ever
:11:49. > :11:52.need and I'll throw in a crutch. It's all free. It's all paid for.
:11:52. > :11:55.This is what the biggest shake-up in the history of the NHS is all
:11:55. > :12:03.about giving local doctors, nurses and patients the chance to call the
:12:03. > :12:05.shots and shop around for the best care. At least that's the
:12:05. > :12:08.Government's plan. But many doctors think the reforms are untested,
:12:08. > :12:13.expensive and over-complicated, a view I shared with the former
:12:13. > :12:16.Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley. The difficulty with this is that
:12:16. > :12:21.it's 353 pages of wonk. It's absolutely impossible to understand
:12:21. > :12:25.it. I choose my words carefully. It is unreadable. What did you
:12:25. > :12:28.actually say?! It's wonk. But I've been wading through the jargon, and
:12:28. > :12:30.it's clear the reforms will affect us all. So it's vital we put
:12:30. > :12:36.politics aside and try to understand exactly what they'll
:12:36. > :12:43.mean for patients. Until now, the NHS has been like a big supermarket
:12:43. > :12:47.chain that only sells its own brands. It's a one-stop shop where
:12:47. > :12:51.all the tricky decisions are made for you. In theory, you should get
:12:51. > :12:59.the same high quality care, whether you live in Scunthorpe or Southend.
:13:00. > :13:01.But like any monopoly, it's far So the Government's bringing in the
:13:02. > :13:07.market place model instead, introducing more choice and
:13:07. > :13:12.competition, and putting local GPs in charge instead of civil servants.
:13:12. > :13:16.But will it work? So if I just check your eyes there. I can
:13:16. > :13:20.confirm you have two eyes. We're doing two X-rays for the price of
:13:20. > :13:24.one. And I can throw in a free brain scan if you like. One change
:13:24. > :13:26.we're told patients should notice is care much closer to home.
:13:26. > :13:31.Hospitals and GPs will have more freedom to bring in innovative
:13:31. > :13:35.ideas. Technology might monitor your health at home, and routine
:13:35. > :13:38.surgery could be done at high street clinics. Hospitals in
:13:38. > :13:44.Gloucestershire have already teamed up with a charity to send this
:13:44. > :13:48.mobile chemotherapy unit into rural communities. For cancer patients
:13:48. > :13:52.like Graham Freeman, it's a lifeline. The concept is great:
:13:52. > :13:54.Moving the treatment closer to the person because there is a bit of a
:13:54. > :14:01.trauma you suffer from a trauma from the chemotherapy and the
:14:01. > :14:08.travelling. Bringing the treatment closer to the person is a lot
:14:08. > :14:13.better. You do feel a little bit better. But could this shift
:14:13. > :14:16.towards more localised care mean hospitals will have to close? To
:14:16. > :14:22.find out, I've come to London, to one of the world's most respected
:14:22. > :14:25.independent think tanks on health policy: The King's Fund. I don't
:14:25. > :14:27.think we'll see many hospitals closing as a result of care coming
:14:27. > :14:29.closer to home. It will mean hospitals changing their roles
:14:29. > :14:36.perhaps fewer A&E departments, fewer maternity services provided
:14:36. > :14:40.in existing hospitals. But that could be to the benefit of patients,
:14:40. > :14:44.if we're able to plan that in the appropriate way and get better
:14:44. > :14:50.outcomes by concentrating those services in fewer hospitals.
:14:50. > :14:56.might not be keen, though, if it's your A&E that's closing. The second
:14:56. > :15:00.thing patients should notice is more choice. Three tomatoes for �1!
:15:00. > :15:03.Anybody? Three inhalers for the price of two. Come and get them!
:15:03. > :15:06.�1.50 over there! We've got a separate queue here for six
:15:06. > :15:12.symptoms or less. Competition in the NHS isn't new, but the reforms
:15:12. > :15:18.step it up a notch. The NHS will become a marketplace, with private
:15:18. > :15:22.companies competing with the NHS for business. So when your GP says
:15:22. > :15:29.you need a scan, your options may look less like this, and more like
:15:29. > :15:35.this. But it should be quality not price that will decide which are
:15:35. > :15:38.allowed to offer care. It's already happening here on the high street,
:15:38. > :15:45.where Specsavers are treating NHS patients in 218 of its hearing
:15:45. > :15:52.centres. When I came to Specsave, they do private and NHS, which I
:15:52. > :15:55.find is better than going to the hospital. You know, you go to the
:15:55. > :16:03.hospital, there's a lot of travelling, and I don't think you
:16:04. > :16:06.get such a personal attention. So this is much, much better. When you
:16:07. > :16:09.press the button in, you'll hear... The plan is for patients like
:16:09. > :16:13.Doreen to choose their provider by looking at new performance league
:16:13. > :16:20.tables. But companies must play by the rules, and can't encourage NHS
:16:20. > :16:23.patients to go private. Ultimately, Specsavers want to protect the NHS
:16:23. > :16:27.work that we've managed to gain here, and we don't want to do
:16:27. > :16:32.anything to try and jeopardise that. So we're not going to try and sell
:16:32. > :16:36.a hearing aid, upsell a patient, you know, at all during that time.
:16:36. > :16:39.Market competition could drive up standards and lower costs. But if
:16:39. > :16:44.profits slip, companies could pull out or even go under, leaving
:16:45. > :16:47.patients in the lurch. Remember the collapse of Northern Rock? Imagine
:16:48. > :16:55.if customers had been queuing not for their life savings but for
:16:55. > :16:57.life-saving surgery. If there's going to be a bigger role for
:16:57. > :17:00.private companies in delivering care to patients, then there's
:17:00. > :17:02.always a possibility, however remote, that that company will not
:17:02. > :17:06.be successful, that we will see something like Northern Rock in
:17:06. > :17:09.healthcare. The Government's anticipating that. It's putting in
:17:09. > :17:12.place what's called a "failure regime" so that the regulator can
:17:12. > :17:17.intervene and ensure continuity of services, even if the organisations
:17:17. > :17:23.are not providing care to the right standard. The third thing patients
:17:23. > :17:26.may notice is a shift in their relationship with their GP. So if I
:17:26. > :17:29.said, "Trust me, I know the best place for you to go to get your
:17:29. > :17:34.heart surgery," would you say, "Yeah, you're the doctor. Dr Phil,
:17:34. > :17:37.you look like a ginger George Clooney. I love you, I trust you"?
:17:38. > :17:41.Have you chosen YOUR family doctor? Since the birth of the NHS, doctors
:17:41. > :17:44.have taken the trust of patients for granted. But as GPs offer more
:17:44. > :17:49.and more treatments, they could find themselves referring patients
:17:49. > :17:53.to their own services. Add private companies into the mix, and there's
:17:53. > :17:56.real scope for a conflict of interest. So just open really wide.
:17:56. > :18:01.But should we really be worried? Say, "Ahhh!" That's great, thank
:18:01. > :18:04.you. In Bath, Jasmine Bishop is seeing a GP on the NHS. But believe
:18:04. > :18:07.it or not, he actually works for Virgin. Yup they of planes, trains
:18:07. > :18:14.and superfast broadband fame also run this walk-in centre, along with
:18:14. > :18:18.170 other NHS services. Although you wouldn't know it from the
:18:18. > :18:21.branding. As Virgin take over more NHS services, what's to stop you
:18:21. > :18:27.referring patients on to another Virgin service to make money for
:18:27. > :18:30.the company rather than in the best interests of the patient? Well, all
:18:30. > :18:37.of our GPs like any GPs in the country have to offer patients a
:18:37. > :18:40.choice when they're being referred for another service. And so in the
:18:40. > :18:43.end, it's down to the patient to choose where they go. And, of
:18:43. > :18:45.course, GPs and other clinical staff have a professional
:18:45. > :18:50.responsibility, too, to make sure that they're finding the best care
:18:50. > :18:55.for their patients. That doesn't differ because those GPs are
:18:55. > :18:59.employed by us. And you have to ask if patients really mind who
:18:59. > :19:04.provides their care. Did you know that this health centre was run by
:19:04. > :19:08.Virgin? No. Would it make any difference to you, as a patient,
:19:08. > :19:12.whether it's run by an ordinary NHS GP or a private company? Nope.
:19:12. > :19:16.all that matters to you is what? What do you care about in your
:19:16. > :19:19.treatment? That I get the best treatment I possibly get, really.
:19:19. > :19:23.Which of these sample bottles would you like, madam? We've got three on
:19:23. > :19:27.choice today. The bottom line is that if you have a good idea to
:19:27. > :19:31.improve your care, tell your GP. If he or she can make it happen, we
:19:31. > :19:36.know the reforms are working. It's been a huge upheaval just to get
:19:36. > :19:40.the NHS to listen to patients. And I hope, for all our sakes, it works.
:19:40. > :19:50.I can't lug all this back again. Come on, it's got to go today. Last
:19:50. > :19:55.We all tend to take our health for granted, and no matter how
:19:55. > :19:58.successful we are, the lottery of life can take that all away. So how
:19:58. > :20:03.do you cope when illness strikes out of nowhere and threatens to rob
:20:03. > :20:13.you of everything that you hold dear? Well, a colleague of mine has
:20:13. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:28.had the courage to reveal, in his The pub quiz can tax the brain, but
:20:28. > :20:37.the bigger questions in life have no easy answers. With fate, you
:20:37. > :20:41.don't know who's going to get hit by what and when. I never knew it
:20:41. > :20:48.would be me. For exactly a year, I've been living with a devastating
:20:48. > :20:55.diagnosis - I have MS. Multiple Sclerosis is taking away things
:20:55. > :21:00.which have made my life so special, including a career I loved. Now, on
:21:00. > :21:03.BBC Radio 4, Farming Today with Mark Holdstock. Good morning. Trade
:21:03. > :21:08.unions want Portugese workers laid off by Bernard Matthews to be
:21:08. > :21:12.compensated... Yup, that's me. I thought I had it all a great job
:21:12. > :21:18.that took me all over the country, a great home and a car even Jeremy
:21:18. > :21:22.Clarkson might envy. For a quarter of a century, I'd worked my way up,
:21:22. > :21:31.from local radio in Newcastle to the ultimate: A regular voice on
:21:31. > :21:35.Britain's national networks. A farm near Guildford in Surrey will have
:21:35. > :21:38.to take down 100 acres of terminals, and we can hear more about it now
:21:38. > :21:42.from Mark Holdstock, presenter of the BBC Radio programme, Farming
:21:42. > :21:45.Today. Yes, Jeremy. This is a case which has been dragging on for a
:21:45. > :21:48.couple of years now... Well, I had a very happy time presenting
:21:48. > :21:52.Farming Today, and one of the early-stage symptoms of what I had
:21:52. > :22:02.was that my speech was affected, and I wasn't able to talk as
:22:02. > :22:06.
:22:06. > :22:08.clearly as I had in the past. And eventually, I was dropped. Now,
:22:09. > :22:13.they grow strawberries for Waitrose, amongst others, and what they did
:22:13. > :22:19.was they bought this farm - it's an old, arable farm... It's almost
:22:19. > :22:29.like listening to a different person. I now realise that wasn't
:22:29. > :22:30.
:22:30. > :22:40.because I wasn't any good at what I was doing. It was because I had a
:22:40. > :22:45.
:22:45. > :22:55.medical condition that I didn't It's time for me to find out what's
:22:55. > :22:58.
:22:58. > :23:05.going on in MY 50 shades of grey matter. You OK there, Mike? Yup.
:23:05. > :23:12.are starting off straightaway, lot son not of noise coming up. Your
:23:12. > :23:18.immune system attacks perfectly healthy brain. It goes in, a tax
:23:18. > :23:24.and area and leaves a scarf. As those scars accumulate, we can see
:23:24. > :23:28.people become more disabled. The white areas are the abnormal scars.
:23:28. > :23:33.None of this white stuff should be here. I've spent my life asking
:23:33. > :23:40.direct questions. Now's no different. Is that there any cure,
:23:40. > :23:46.treatment, that will actually make a difference? No, no drugs which
:23:46. > :23:56.altered the course of the disease. We have treatments for the symptoms
:23:56. > :23:59.
:23:59. > :24:06.Other forms of MS can be treated to slow down the deterioration. Sadly,
:24:06. > :24:16.I have a specific type that is aggressive and unstoppable. As I
:24:16. > :24:17.
:24:17. > :24:24.would find out later, my scan would prove anything but routine. Wembley
:24:24. > :24:27.going places, we can appear a bit drunk. And the tendency to slow
:24:27. > :24:30.your words. The one person who's been beside me throughout is my
:24:30. > :24:40.wife Jane. Like me, with a career spent in radio, she's not
:24:40. > :24:42.
:24:42. > :24:50.comfortable appearing on camera. I am going to be bed-bound and unable
:24:50. > :24:58.to walk. I did not know much about ms, and I kind of presumed it was a
:24:58. > :25:03.terminal illness. It is not - it won't kill you. And you could have
:25:03. > :25:11.that for 20 years or more. It will get to a point where I can no
:25:11. > :25:19.longer dress myself, feed myself. I can probably barely speak. I felt
:25:19. > :25:23.troubled by the idea of having to let somebody else look after you.
:25:23. > :25:30.Ultimately, you must have to do that. I do worry about becoming a
:25:30. > :25:36.burden, and not just to my wife. One of the most important things
:25:36. > :25:42.for me is having my friends, as well as Jane. It is something which
:25:42. > :25:49.has kept me going. And I do worry about the possibility that some
:25:49. > :25:53.people feel... Have a fear of illness. I needn't worry too much
:25:53. > :26:03.with this lot. Back at the quiz, we've just won a round of free
:26:03. > :26:04.
:26:04. > :26:10.beer! His team often when. And it is often down to mark. So, I would
:26:10. > :26:14.not be too worried about the brain at the moment! He says he may end
:26:15. > :26:19.up in a wheelchair. It is very bad news. And he knows that and is
:26:19. > :26:27.being realistic about it, but he is also being pragmatic and saying, OK,
:26:27. > :26:34.while I can, I will enjoy myself as much as possible. When I can no
:26:34. > :26:43.longer come along here and see this, when I am no longer able to get to
:26:43. > :26:48.places, it will be such a feeling of loss, of bereavement. And at
:26:48. > :26:53.almost this so much. I am still working not radio, but writing for
:26:53. > :27:02.the Northern Farmer. Today, it's farm diversification in Cumbria,
:27:02. > :27:05.where visitors can see cows being milked over afternoon tea. The
:27:05. > :27:09.beauty of working from home is taking advantage of the
:27:09. > :27:15.inspirational views from the window of my flat. I've also decided to
:27:15. > :27:18.tell my story in an online blog I've called "The Trainee Cripple".
:27:18. > :27:25.Maybe uncomfortable to some as a title, but it's a no-holds-barred
:27:25. > :27:28.account of life when the body fails. The next big reality check is the
:27:28. > :27:38.fact the home I adore can only be reached up a set of very awkward
:27:38. > :27:49.
:27:49. > :27:57.steps. I will have to sell this. There is practically no way that I
:27:57. > :28:00.cannot use this flat when I go, as I will, in a wheelchair. That said.
:28:00. > :28:10.My earlier scan showed I am suitable for a new drugs trial,
:28:10. > :28:13.
:28:13. > :28:17.three years long. It may not help me, but it could help others. But
:28:17. > :28:21.what MS has really taught me is the importance of defying my body, to
:28:21. > :28:30.keep going with the life I love, in the place I love, around the people
:28:30. > :28:35.Mark has a lot more to say on his blog. You'll find a link on my blog.
:28:35. > :28:45.Just head to the usual place: bbc.co.uk/chrisjackson. But that's
:28:45. > :28:46.