26/05/2013 The Wales Report

Warnings that some accident and emergency units will collapse

without major reorganisation. are currently running some services

that are fragile and in danger of falling over. We need to move

towards providing those services safely on fewer sites. No change is

not an option. We have seen in the last year an unprecedented demand

on frontline secondary care services, that means all hospitals

throughout Wales. That means we are really right at breaking point.

are not the problems is recruiting into Wales. We are on a downward

spiral of people seeing it as more attractive because we are stretched

and clinicians are trying to provide more care, more out-of-

hours care, without enough people on the rota. When -- when you come

in as an emergency you need to be seen by someone who is trained

appropriately to deal with your condition. We know that, there are

cases where out-of-hours patients are seen by very junior doctors who

do what they can but here is much better provided by senior trained

doctors. The role of the ambulance service is absolutely critical. Not

just in terms of access but being part of the process of care,

getting people to the right here at the right time. If people are

having to travel slightly further two services we want to make sure

access is good and reliable and relatives can get there as well.

That is a service that people can ask questions about. If you are

seeking to regionalised services you have got to make sure in your

plan you have got sufficient transport arrangements dictate that

casualty from the point of injury to that definitive high-level

centre. Any delay in that potentially puts those casualties

at risk. We know that the ambulance service currently is under immense

pressure. I will be seeking assurances that the ambulance

service is going to have increased resources. Allied will be asking

some very tough questions. What will this lead in terms of

services? Will be extra travel time make a difference in terms of

outcomes? You will want solid reassurances that at the outcome is

going to mean better care for our patients. That is certainly

something to think about. The voices of frontline NHS care in

Wales. Why are we in this mess? has come on as over a period of

time. I think also recently we have begun to think there are services

we are providing that are not as good as they could be. We want

people in Wales to have the very best services. When you look at the

accident and emergency case, lots of us might be puzzled by that

figure of increased demand. Why are we suddenly seeing much more demand

for that kind of accident and emergency cover? People argue about

what is going on. What we know for sure is that we are in an ageing

population. It is important we do a good job for them. Some of the

pressure we are seeing is because older people have to come into

hospital and as you get older you need more health care services. We

think if we reorganise on the ground we could do a better job of

looking after people. Our people been concerned about an ambulance

service under pressure being asked to take people into more distant

centres where they might possibly get more specialised care at the

end of it but if that services are already under pressure that could

threaten lives? We have worked carefully with the ambulance

service. I think you will have to make changes. There are three parts

to getting someone to hospital if they need care urgently. The first

and more important thing that happens is what the paramedic does

to you when he comes to you on the ground. Journey times are important

but they are not these or Lee Bain. What is just as important is what

is waiting for you when you get to the end of that journey. If you

have got senior people around the clock on Dec waiting to look after

you, especially hit you have the more serious injuries, you will

have a better outcome. You are simply more likely to live if you

have that service provided like that. That is Flybe are so keen to

get so much senior cover on the ground around the clock. -- why we.

What about it being difficult to convince people that working in

Wales is an attractive option? is a concern. We want the very best

service and we won the very best people to come here to help us

deliver that service. We must have a service that is organised in such

a way that people want to come and work here. They must be sure they

will get good training because people have a choice now and they

might choose to go somewhere else if they think they will get more

and better Experience, better supervised experience. We have to

think about that when planning these changes. Just to be clear,

the kind of reforms we are talking about will come together and be

approved by whom? By the Welsh Government. Is that on-track or

not? Colleagues in the local health boards will be looking to see that

we have gone through this process properly, that things have been

thought through, that we have consulted with people in a

meaningful way to make sure there needs are taking into account.

if it does not go through? We have got a window now. I do not know how

long that when the West, it may be 10 years. Unless we make

significant changes to the way we deliver health care I think you

will have a less good health care system for people in Wales and I

think that will be a shame. Thank you for coming in. Some of the

plans under consideration are strongly opposed, in particular the

proposal to downgrade the accident and emergency unit here. This week

some senior Labour politicians to do the streets to join the campaign

to keep a specialist here at the site. That is despite the fact the

planned changes result from a process that is taking place under

the responsibility of the Welsh Labour Government. I am joined now

by a Labour Assembly member who is also campaigning against the

proposed changes. What are you all posing? What we are arguing for is

the interests of the constituencies we represent. There is a

consultation process which has put forward a number of options. We

want to seek an emergency service maintained in this hospital and

except the need for clinical change but during this process we think it

is essential we look at all the facts behind the decisions and

recommendations. We support the option that is best suited to dead

people of this constituency. Let me put it to you provocatively. You

support the need for clinical change but not if it affects you

and you're constituents? It has to be what will be in the best medical

interest of people. Look at the options been presented to you. I

think there may be other combinations of options by

hospitals working more closely together in the provision of

services. One areas important. If we are to lose certain services in

the hospital there are reasons that others could be moved out from

Cardiff which are far more accessible to people and will also

maintain the status of the hospital. Let's talk about the transparency

of what is going on. This is a decision which will finally have to

be approved by your colleagues in the Government. Our viewers right

to be puzzled by the fact you are out protesting, campaigning

publicly against the decision potentially which will be taken by

your old colleagues, what are they to make of that? Ultimately it will

have to be approved but the criteria for approval is the

medical lead. It is important there is not a political squabble over it.

I did do not make your representations quietly and

privately behind the scenes rather than publicly at this stage? People

contact you and engage with you. They want to know what your views

are and how you are going to represent them during the

consultation process. One of the things we are going to be doing is

assisting people to put in consultation views. Some of those

are different from different parts. Some parts of my constituency

orientate more towards Cardiff already. I think the problems are

even more or so further up the road. It is in your constituents interest

but this hospital is no longer one of these specialised units. What

are your options then, do you still say you disagree? The first stage

is to make sure the basis on which the options are being considered

are based on fact. The second is the maker case as strongly as we

can. Thirdly, if the options come out, I think if we are satisfied

they are based on clinical need them collectively we have to accept

them. The one thing we cannot compromise on his medical safety

and sustainability for the future. The trouble is you have already

publicly stated their opposition to those options. You cannot be

telling me hear you will accept them at the end of the day. What I

am hoping is that some of the things I am supporting and going to

be arguing for should be incorporated within the final

recommendations. That is my aspiration, that the arguments I

put forward are accepted. I am prepared to compromise. I think

there is some merit to some of the points we have started to raise. We

may well end up with a solution that does not give you everything

you want but maintains the Royal Glamorgan with specialist services

and accident and emergency services for the majority of people. Have

you discussed this with the First Minister? I have not. I do not

think it is appropriate because of the role he plays ultimately. I

have discussed it with in the constituency. A lot of people are

pleased I have taken the stand I have. Thank you. Now it is almost

one years since severe flooding hit parts of Wales. Now there are

warnings that homes in the area could soon be uninsurable. An

agreement between insurance providers and the UK Government

which means everyone can access household insurance is due to end

in July with no alternative in sight. What will that mean for

In minutes flooding can devastate lives and wreck property. No one

here in Wales is in any doubt of the damage that flooding can do.

Mick and Jenny found at first hand a year ago. There town look like

this. The summer floods left the downstairs of their house

completely submerged. On the day of the flood there was a huge pulse of

rain in the early hours of the morning and it came up to the arch

of the bridge and started to back up dramatically. It came up to

within I would say six feet in the garden with in half-an-hour. It was

a tremendous increase. The water came in through the back

door. It rushed in through the back door and started to rise very

quickly. It was devastation. It looked as though someone had

grabbed hold of the house and shaken all our contents onto the

floor. Covered in inches of mud so everything had to be thrown away.

It was heartbreaking to open the door and see what had happened.

Mick and his family climbed out of the window with nothing but the

close they were wearing. They lost nearly all their personal

possessions. It could have been worse. Thankfully they have

insurance so 10 months on they have rebuilt their home and moved back

in. It really does take its toll in as much as it is a real emotional

drain. Physically and emotionally over those months we were at our

lowest. Generally because it was so obvious there had been a major

traumatic event the insurance company were actually quite good in

terms of taking on responsibility once they had agreed to take on the

claim. The family have already taken practical steps themselves to

guard against future flooding. Predictably their insurance premium

has already gone up and now they fear they will not get cover at all

the next time they have to renew their policies. That is because the

way flood insurance is provided could soon change. At the moment

there is an agreement between governments and the insurance

providers, it is called the statement of principles. The

insurers have agreed to cover buildings that are actually in a

high risk flooding areas and in return the government in Wales,

England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been improving their

flood defences, building storm drains, culverts, sea walls, to

lessen the risk. The agreement means that all property owners have

access to a reasonably priced flood insurance. The deal runs out at the

end of July. The Association of British Insurers say that if no new

settlement is reached by the deadline, from August flood

insurance will be left to the free market. Insurers will be able to

charge whatever they like for higher risk properties. Many are

warning that that will leave huge numbers of homes and businesses

unable to afford insurance. In fact, across Wales There are 200,000

properties at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. According to one

flood victim Support charity, in future, under free-market

conditions, thousands of those properties may not get insurance at

all. What you will probably see his insurance companies pulling out of

the market where there is any significant flood risk. What would

that do to communities and businesses? If you cannot get

insurance you cannot buy a house, you cannot get a mortgage.

Communities need to wake up and smell the coffee but Government

needs to wake up and smell the coffee. This is something they

cannot walk away from. If they are trying to play a game of bluff with

the insurance industry to see who blinks first then it is a disgrace

and I say shame on them for that. Ultimately they are playing with

people's lives and the Health and well-being of whole communities.

Talks are ongoing but there is one main sticking point. The insurers

for the UK government to provide some sort of support to help them

cover the ever-growing cost of flooding. After all, the 2007

floods cost insurers across the UK more than �3 billion. Everyone

accepts that floods are becoming more frequent and extreme, which

may explain why the UK government how worried about getting sucked

into paying a future bill that could turn out to be enormous.

Jonathan Evans, the Conservative MP for Cardiff North who chairs the

all-party insurance group in Westminster says negotiations are

at a crucial stage. If ultimately the Government said it is OK, in

the event there was a real calamity, in the early stages of the scheme

we will stand behind it, then the regulators would be happy and the

cost to the customer would be a manageable cost. It is a lot of our

old photographs of the children. this family go through their

treasured photos that they have managed to rescue, they fear that

if they are flooded again they will be on their own, abandoned by both

the politicians and the insurance. I would like to see a way forward

that we can continue insuring our house so we can carry on living

here. I know we live next to a river and it is a risky place but a

lot of people living risky places to one sort or another and to my

mind the idea behind assurances to share that risk. Our insurance

company have already demonstrated they do not really want us because

of the price of the premium and it would be an easy situation for them

to say knowing agreement that exists and they will not offer any

more insurance. -- and no agreement exists. Helen Callaghan reporting.

I'm joined now from our London studio by Matt Cullen from the

Association of British Insurers. Flooding is a very complex issue

and these talks have been going on for a very long time because we are

trying to solve a very difficult problem and ensure that flood

insurance remains affordable to people all around the country. Some

of these people, if Insurers were doing business as normal, there

would be no business case for that to be possible so it is a difficult

issue for art and the Government to overcome. What would you want the

government to deliver as part of its contribution that they are

reluctant to deliver? There is no country in the world that has a

functional free market for flood insurance, which delivers

affordable flood insurance without any form of government support

whatsoever. We have developed a scheme that has pretty minimal

government involvement but it does involve government to do two main

things, firstly to legislate, to make sure that all insurers take

part in the scheme, otherwise Insurers that did not take part

would get an advantage. Government is fine with that part of it but

the sticking point is that what we are doing is dealing with a very

volatile thing in a flat day. Some years it will not cost very much at

all but the years it will be extremely expensive and how you

manage that volatility is a very critical issue and there is a lot

of discussion about how to share at risk between government and the

insurance industry. One of the options that has been canvassed is

a levy on all insurance policies. Some people are mentioning a pounds

per household on average. Is that figure correct and is that a

principal you can justify? He yes, that figure is correct, it is from

the proposal that the Association Of British Insurers as put forward

and is working on closely with the Government. We think it is

defensible and justifiable. We think it is justifiable for a

number of reasons, firstly because actually lot of people around the

country could find themselves affected by flooding, even though

they might not appear to be all know that they are at a flood risk

now. Lots of people flood these days for whom flood risk has never

been an issue before so there are people out there who may feel that

it is unfair for them to be supporting people at high risk but

come next year or five years down the line it could very well be them.

Yes, that is why debatable, because there will be millions of people

caught in this deal if it comes about, you cannot really claim that

a majority of them are potentially flood victims, can you? Know, you

can't, but fundamentally that is a political decision and it is

something that we have to work with government on and government need

to take it the one and it is their decision whether it is right for

people at row risk of flooding, some of whom may risk flooding in

the future and some may not, but whether it is right for these

people to subsidise or support a small collection of people, I says

more, we are talking between 200,400 1,000 homes here, a lot of

properties around the country, support them to make sure that they

can get the support they really need when they are at their lowest

ebb. -- 200,000 to 400,000. If you do not get this levy, is there no

deal? Without the levy you will have a situation where everybody

has to pay a price that fully reflect the flood risk that they

face. In other words high risk people have no mechanism for being

subsidised or paying less than what they technically should be playing

-- paying. That means that around 200,000 high risk homes around the

country will probably struggle to access affordable flood insurance.

That will have much broader effects than just those homes. It will

affect the communities in which those homes are, the people, the

services, the businesses that rely on those homes and those people, so

the impact will be very significant. Right now, today, what is your hand

as to the probability of a deal being struck in time? The insurance

industry is determined to get a deal, we are working very hard on

it and we have been for two years and we are not letting up. We think

government are working just as hard and we hope and believe that

government understand, as we do, that moving to a free-market is not

a good solution for the country and we therefore have to get a deal in

the near future. Thank you very much for joining us.

It's been quite a season for rugby and, indeed, for football in Wales,

with unprecedented glory and silverware for Welsh clubs. But

what can we do to build on this success? We caught up with the

chair of the Football Association of Wales, Jonathan Ford, in Newport

where future stars of tomorrow mingle with famous faces like

Marcel Desailly and Didi Hamann, training to become coaches at

The Welsh football has had a fantastic success this year.

Cardiff finally won through to premiere Lee. Newport came back

into the lead and Wrexham won the FA Trophy. Who can forget a tiny

town of 1,600 people, the first time in Europe, what a fantastic

success for them. They are playing in the Europa League next year.

Football is big business across the world, it is a global sport. The

money that comes in on a global basis, natural bases and a local

basis is critically important to be spent in the right areas. --

national basis. With the work we do with UEFA we can build facilities

like this and continue to promote and improve football in this

country and improve people's lives as a result. It has been well-

documented that when clubs go through to the Premier League as

Swansea did their Ahmad such benefits are we need to ensure it

comes all the way through to all levels of the game, not just the

top of the game. Welsh football is being much more widely recognised

that. We have fantastic players at international level like Gareth

Bale. What a goal! He had a fantastic season and is

appropriately credited with that awards that he received. What a

fantastic strike! It is important we do not end up with just a nation

of spectators. We want people to be inspired to go out and play

themselves. Football is a fantastic galvanise of community cohesion

which is a knock-on benefit of trying to get people active and

playing together. Of course There is a bigger benefit, health

benefits. Football ultimately promotes an active lifestyle and if

we can encourage people to lead a less sedentary lifestyle and get

out there and get their boots on and kick a football around then

hopefully the benefits later on as regards to Alf will improve this

country no end. Welsh football is really punching above its weight. A

lot of people don't recognise it as being a country leading sport but

in participation terms and spectator terms it really is. We

have the biggest voluntary work force of anything in Wales. Our

coaching programmes are bringing a more coaches and our facility

programmes are providing better facilities. Welsh football is on

the up and it needs to be recognised as such. Hopefully with

some of the success we will have with our national teams, it is not

a matter of if but a matter of when, then people will recognise the

power of the fantastic support we have and they would get on their

boots and playing the pox a bit more than they are now.

And hopefully that won't be the last time we see a World Cup winner

wearing a Welsh shirt! That's it for this week's programme.

We'll be back next week at the later time of 10:55pm. In the