05/05/2016 Victoria Derbyshire

How close does a doctor need to be when a baby is born?

Thousands of women give birth under the care of a midwife either at home

or in special unit - but when things go wrong, is that

We hear from one woman whose baby tragically died.

It was only last half an hour of my labour

that it was realised that

And it was just like a disaster from there

Another truce in the ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo -

and a let-up in the intense bombing raids.

We hear from residents who've been living through

And the timeshare club that members say isn't what they bought into -

they want compensation and are going to court.

The company who sold them dispute the claims.

How easy do you find it to get an appointment with your GP?

Would you like to go to the surgery at the weekend or be happy to talk

A little later this morning, we'll be hearing from GPs

who try to see their patients in different ways.

We want to hear from you about your experience.

We'll be talking to four GPs just after 10.

Do get in touch on all the stories we're talking about this morning -

And if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

Our top story today is that a group of senior medics has

called on both sides in the long-running junior doctors'

dispute to agree to fresh talks in an attempt to avoid a further

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents doctors

on training and education, says both sides should agree

A series of strikes by junior doctors in England affecting routine

care was followed last week by two walkouts on all forms

That was unprecedented in the history of the NHS, although with

consultants and other staff covering the gaps,

hospitals reported no problems with essential services.

This weekend, junior doctor representatives are meeting to

Now leaders of the medical profession are

calling for a five-day pause to allow talks during which

the government would temporarily suspend work on introducing

the new contract, and the BMA would not plan further action.

We're calling for a focused brief five-day pause where it gives both

sides the opportunity to participate with no ifs,

buts, maybes to resolve the remaining issues.

Because they tell us they are 95% in agreement,

so surely it must be possible to finally close this gap

for the benefit of the NHS junior doctors and patients.

The British Medical Association said it would agree to the proposal

and temporarily suspend industrial action to allow talks with

a mutually agreed facilitator, as long as the government did

The Department of Health, though, said it was too late to change the

process of bringing in contracts, which was well under way.

I will be speaking to the DMA just about implementation

I will be speaking to the DMA just after ten. Do let us know your

thoughts. Annita McVeigh's in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary Syrian city of Aleppo

following violent clashes between government and rebel forces

this week which have Diplomatic pressure

from the United States and Russia led to a 48-hour

truce being declared. Those in Aleppo in recent weeks may

well have asked, "Truce, what truce? " The pause infighting agreed back

in February did not include Syria's This video, uploaded to social

media, is said to show how bad it has become,

though the BBC has not independently verified

the Aleppo is divided, parts of it

controlled by armed rebels who oppose the Syrian President Bashar

al-Assad, parts of it controlled by In the past week

fighting between the two sides has been at its most

intense for a year. Life for people

in Access to basic and essential

services such as water and People are living under

daily threat and terror. But then on Wednesday

in Syrian television

reported that the Syrian army has agreed to extend the

ceasefire to include Aleppo for 48 The deal was done after pressure

from the US and Russia, which have influence on opposing

sides in the conflict. America backs the rebels,

while Russia supports All those with influence,

particularly Russia and Iran, must press the regime to meet

its commitment and obligations. For our part, the United States will

continue pressing for opposition to We will work with our Russian

counterparts to try to restore a real and lasting cessation

of hostilities in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria,

and to facilitate a political The only way in which this

war will finally end. The truce does not include

the so-called Islamic State, nor the Al-Qaeda

linked al-Nusra Front. Aleppo was Syria's industrial

and financial centre, hard to believe when you look

at the state of the city now. And it is thought that at least 5000

of the refugees at the border with Jordan

have fled from Aleppo. They, as much as anyone,

will be watching, waiting, to see if this

latest truce will hold. And we'll be speaking to people

in Aleppo about what life is like in the city later

on in the programme. Here - the polls have opened

for local, regional and some parliamentary elections

across the UK, on what's been The elections are for

the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales,

Northern Ireland Assembly New mayors will be elected

in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Salford,

and there are parliamentary by-elections in Ogmore

and Sheffield Brightside. Police and crime commissioners

are also being elected We are getting reports of problems

with polling stations in north London, Barnett specifically.

Some polling stations apparently do not

have the colour -- correct list of people at the eligible to vote. --

people eligible to vote. A state of emergency has been

declared in the Canadian province of Alberta because of a raging

wildfire which threatens 88,000 people -

the entire population of Fort McMurray -

was ordered to evacuate yesterday. Now it's feared large parts

of the city could be The fire, driven on by fierce winds,

has already gutted 1,600 buildings, while oil companies operating

in the area have been Some people took refuge

in the nearby town of Anzac, but now an evacuation has

been ordered there too. Investigators have yet to establish

what caused the blaze. Our reporter James Cook sent this

update from just outside the city. Well, perhaps just over ten miles

outside the city of Fort McMurray, and this is where as you can see

the emergency services are staging Now we have seen

various firefighting vehicles, we have seen

tankers with fuel to refuel the vehicles that

are working in there, and we have also

seen buses going on as well. This is a junction

and straight down that But if you take a turn

along towards the right-hand side here what you will

see is another turn, we cannot see right-hand side here what you will

see is another town, we cannot see it from here, but a turn called

Anzac, and that community now is They have moved away both

to the north of Fort McMurray and here to

the south and east and they are threatening

town of Anzac and the neighbouring communities.

A woman from West Yorkshire has been describing how a string

of hospital failings led to her son being stillborn.

Sam Reid's son Theo died at a midwife-led unit

After taking legal action the NHS Trust responsible admitted

liability, apologised and settled out of court.

Sam Reid has told the BBC how she feels the care she received led

It was only last half an hour of my labour

that it was realised that

And it was just like a disaster from there

It was so traumatic that the last half an hour of what happened,

when he came out, everything, resuscitating him, I feel that my

care wasn't right and I actually feel that that's the reason he died.

And we'll bring you more of that interview in a few minutes' time -

Britain's newest daily newspaper "The New Day" is closing down, just

Publisher Trinity Mirror said that circulation for the title

was well below expectations, despite supportive reviews and

There were hopes that the paper would sell about 200,000

copies a day, but sales are reported to be about 40,000.

At least 31 people have been injured after an Etihad Airways flight ran

in to severe turbulence as it prepared to land in the Indonesian

Nine passengers and crew were taken to hospital while the others

The United Arab Emirates' national airline said that cabin luggage bins

At least 31 people have been injured after an Etihad Airways flight ran

The United Arab Emirates' national airline said that cabin luggage bins

At least 31 people have been injured after an Etihad Airways flight ran

The United Arab Emirates' national airline said that cabin luggage bins

were damaged while passengers said oxygen masks were released

The mother of Fusilier Lee Rigby - the soldier murdered by two Muslim

extremists near his barracks in South London three years ago -

has told the BBC how she suffers constant pain over his killing.

In an exclusive interview, Lyn Rigby said she would never

forgive his murderers, and would never be

At least 31 people have been injured after an Etihad Airways flight ran

She's set up a foundation in honour of her son, to help bereaved

families of those who served in the armed forces.

Tell us about Lee, tell us about your son, what sort

of a young boy was he, what sort of a young man was

Always cheeky, tried overstepping the mark a few times.

When he joined the Army, he just completely

I think they turned the boy into a man.

Lee was killed almost three years ago on May the

Tell us about that day, how did you find out?

I received a phone call from Sarah, my daughter, asking

if I had heard about a soldier being murdered in Woolwich.

I started panicking then, because Lee always used to phone me

if any tragedy happened, you know, just to put

my mind at rest that he was safe and well.

So I think something hit then, this could be the, as I walked into

So I think something hit then, this could be Lee, as I walked into

the canteen, obviously the news was on in the canteen, and I saw

Them draggin him in the road by his leg.

I recognised the build, the hoodie, the boots, he

I was trying to reassure the girls that he was probably a week training

with cadets, like he used to do. I then went up to bed,

this was just before two, and as I got into the bedroom

the knock on the door... As for the men who

murdered him, Lyn says I could never forgive

them and move on, It is always there,

it is there constantly, from the minute you open your eyes,

to the minute you close, you know, it is a constant

heartache all the time. You have got to be there

for the children. At the end of the day

they've already lost And they don't want

to lose their mum, So you have to try and carry

on for their sake. Now if you have a spare 70 million

dollars lying around, why not put this top

of your shopping list? This gigantic rough diamond

was mined in Botswana late last year It's 1190 carats and is roughly

the size of a tennis ball. Once it's cut and polished it

could be the largest top That is what you call a sparkler!

I am trying to work out what on earth you would use it for.

We will be talking a bit more in a few minutes about the story in the

news, Sam's story. We'll would be asking, does a doctor need to be on

hand when a woman is giving birth? We will hear from Sam, whose baby

tragically died after a series of blunders at the midwife- led unit

will where she gave -- where she gave birth. We will try to weave

some of your comments into our discussion shortly, if you get in

touch, remember our hashtag. Now, sport. A disappointing end for

Manchester City in Europe. They lost to Real Madrid last night.

They went behind after 20 minutes, when Gareth bail's shot

deflected off Fernando. City struggled to get into the game,

but they came close when they hit the post in the first

half. They went through to We were unlucky because it was a

cross and a deflection. The ball went in the top corner.

Both teams, we were similar in the first leg.

Liverpool's manager believes the support of the fans at Anfield is

something he can't buy. They will try to harness it as they reach

a European final of their own. They will have to come from behind

because of their 1-0 aggregate score last week.

passion, our readiness, together with the atmosphere of Anfield,

that's what I'm looking for. Despite finishing on the podium two

races ago, a Red Bull driver has been replaced by an

18-year-old. He was the youngest driver in the sport

when he made his debut at the age of 17. Rebel have now swap the two

Zara Tindall will be looking to claim her place in Rio

at the Badminton Horse Trials which start today.

Tindall, who was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year back

in 2006, will ride High Kingdom, who took her to team

The horse is still to qualify for Rio, having missed almost

Bolton's Amir Khan is back in the boxing ring this weekend

He'll be the heavy underdog as he moves up two weight classes

to face big-punching Mexican Saul Alvarez

He's made a special documentary with the BBC ahead of the fight.

This is my other baby here. So I've got this, it

is the Z06 corvette, zero to 60 in a ridiculous speed. He's not allowed

to drive it, he is too young. It is a beautiful car, it is a limited

edition one and the colour is nice as well.

And you can watch that BBC Three documentary through the iPlayer -

That's it for now, see you at 10:30am.

It should have been one of the most joyous days of Sam Reid's life,

but instead a series of blunders at Pontefract Hospital ended in

Her son Theo was stillborn at the midwife led unit

They are stand alone units, which can be miles

They are led by midwives and don't have the medical facilities

and doctors that are available on a labour ward.

Some feel that the midwife-led approach is better for women

in labour and others that doctors should always be

In Sam Reid's case Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust has admitted responsibility

and offered to settle the case out of court.

It was only the last half an hour of my

labour that it was realised something was going wrong.

And it was just like a disaster from there

It was so traumatic that the last half an hour what happened,

when he came out, everything, resuscitating him, I felt that my

I actually feel that that is the reason he died.

Various, loads of things that went wrong.

My notes, everything, they weren't right, I

was given the wrong drugs at the wrong time...

They never, ever monitored me through my neighbour.

They never, ever monitored me through my labour.

All the little things like that now are adding up, so that's

I had a midwife at the side of me telling me

it was all going to be all right, and when the paramedics said we have

got a heartbeat I sort of had hope then, and then I just did not want

It was the paramedic who said to me, sorry, your son has died.

It was just from then that it was like it had hit me.

I went into natural labour, everything was going

normal, as it should, you take the car seat

to the hospital with you, thinking you are going to come home

We had been told so many times that should not have happened that day.

But we didn't know any of it at that point.

And even after he had been born we didn't know that they

had done the things they did, or hadn't done the things they were

supposed to, we never knew any of that until after.

And now we are realising that it was such a

Sam Reid talking about Herrick spirits at the devastating loss of

her son. We've had a statement

from Gill Pownall, the Head of Nursing and Midwifery,

at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals She says: "We have met

with Mrs Reid and her family We cannot comment on actions taken

in regards to staff, We also cannot comment further due

to the ongoing litigation case Viewers in Yorkshire can see more

on this story tonight on BBC One at 6:30pm on BBC Look North

and everywhere else a little Let's talk a bit more about people's

experiences of midwife-led units and how they compare to your more

traditional hospital maternity unit. Suzanne Munro, a clinical negligence

specialist represented Sam Reid in that case. Sarah Gregson is a

consultant midwife at Maidstone birth centre. Marian Reece lives in

London and had her baby on a midwife led unit. Richard Stanton's baby

girl Kate died in March 2009 just hours after being born in a midwife

led unit. Thank you for joining us. Sarah Gregson, first I want to come

to you because you are a consultant midwife at a birth centre. Just

explain first of all for people not familiar with the various set-ups

what a midwife led Centre is and what it can mean in terms of how far

away potentially medical experts are if difficulties are encountered and

one is needed. OK, yes. As you say, I'm a consultant midwife in Kent and

I work across the whole trust, I work in the hospital and in the

birth centre as well. Are two types of birth centres, one type of birth

centre is attached to the main labour ward in the hospital and the

other type is a freestanding birth centre. These can be varying

distances from the hospital, ours is about 14 miles. Let's bring in

Richard because we heard Sam talk about the loss of 30, and I'm so

sorry to say that you also lost your baby after giving birth in a

midwife-led unit. Tell us what happened when you went to the unit,

your wife had gone into labour and there had been no problems up until

that moment? No, none at all. First of all, can I just say, having heard

Sam's story how sorry I am to hear again another story that has

devastated a family and the lives of that family, so my heart goes out to

Sam and her part in for the loss of PO. We lost our daughter Kate on the

1st of March 2009 six hours after she was born. -- Theo. My wife had a

normal labour, as normal as it could be, but in the last two weeks of her

labour their work application is reducing foetal movement, multiple

episodes of reducing foetal movement and each was only looked at in

isolation so they holistic care was not looked at as an overall picture.

She was botched to deliver at a midwife-led unit in our hometown of

Ludlow in South Rock show, some 28 miles from the nearest tertiary

hospital at the time, royal shoes brief, a journey time of about 40

minutes -- Royal Shrewsbury. She went into labour on Saturday and

laboured through the night and at 10:03am on Sunday morning she gave

birth to our beautiful they beat daughter Kate. Immediately it was

recognisable there were issues with Kate, she was born cold, pale and

floppy and she didn't respond. She didn't have much suck reflex, if

indeed any at all. The midwife on duty didn't recognise the symptoms

because I don't think midwives are trained...

BROADCAST INTERRUPTED BY INTERFERENCE.

STUDIO: Unfortunately the connection to Richard has frozen, we will try

to fix that. Let's read you a statement because we've had a

statement from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

The chief executive Simon Wright says -

"Nothing can make up for the loss of Kate but I sincerely hope

that the improvements we have made and continue to make and the lessons

we have learned and continue to learn will ensure that these

tragic events are not repeated, but instead go to inform

and shape our maternity care both now and in the future."

Suzanne Munroe, you are the solicitor for Sam who we heard from

earlier. We have just heard from Richard in his case the closest

hospital was 28 miles away. How much of a factor is that in cases that

you have been involved with? The distance to the nearest medical help

if there is an issue? There certainly is an issue about

distance because my concern as a lawyer is the fact that there are

minutes often between a baby being brain-damaged, or tragically the

baby dying. In a hospital setting where the emergency care, for want

of a better term, is immediately accessible. You can basically pushed

through the doors and get to the doctors. Those situations can be

dealt with and things can still go wrong even if that happens but if a

midwife has got to make a decision to call an ambulance, to drive down

the motorway or the dual carriageway, or wherever to the

nearest hospital, that is a big issue and I'm seeing it more and

more in cases we are looking at. How many cases have you been

involved with? Over the years? Yes. In stillbirth cases I would imagine

over the last 15 or 20 years, myself, I've probably done about 25

or 30 of those cases and as a team we are probably handling about 20

cases or more at the moment. I'm not seeing less of them. There are more,

if anything. Sarah, what do you say to the point Suzanne was making

about if there is an issue and the midwife facilities are on the site

of the hospital you can just pushed through a door to get instant

medical help from a doctor. With these midwife-led units it's not

always possible. OK, what I'd like to say first of

all, the two cases we've heard this morning sound really harrowing and

really terrible and my heart really goes out to the parents concerned

and their babies. I can't comment on the individual cases because that

would not be appropriate for me to do so. But I think the person who

spoke second... Sorry, who was it? Richard who lost his daughter and

the nearest hospital was 28 miles away.

Yes, to come back to what Richard said, he said something about baby's

movements and the history of the baby not moving well for a period of

time. The whole thing about midwifery led units is the business

of making sure that the right women are there. Clearly somebody who has

a history of the baby not moving before birth, that would be

absolutely a case where that mother should be in hospital and not in a

midwifery led centre. Sorry to interrupt, but how quickly

can things change in childbirth and become unpredictable?

I would say that in the vast majority of cases we should be able

to pick up if there is a problem happening in the labour and do

something about it. The absolute key to the safety of midwifery led units

is this business of what we call risk assessing which essentially

starts from the beginning of the pregnancy to make sure somebody is

low risk and suitable for a midwifery led unit birth. That

process should not stop there, it should go on through the pregnancy,

at each visit things should be checked to see if they are normal

and right through the pregnancy and then it goes on when a summary is

admitted to a midwifery led unit, check if everything is normal and

throughout the Labour itself. It is important to emphasise this business

of risk assessment is absolutely key to midwifery led units. I'd like to

just say about safety as well, because up until 2011 there had been

midwifery-led units for many years but up until 2011 there wasn't

really good research around the safety of such units. And in 2011

there was something that changed all of that. That was a really good

piece of research called the Birthplace Study looking at 64,500

women who were all low risk and have their babies at different birth

settings including freestanding midwifery-led units. They actually

found that perinatal mortality rates were the same but there were clear

benefits for low risk women, and I emphasise again low risk women, so

not people who have complications. But for those women delivering in a

freestanding midwifery-led unit there is far less intervention and

that actually makes them safer for low risk women. I want to bring in

Marion because you are in the studio with your gorgeous boy Eli who you

had 11 months ago in a midwife-led unit. You had a good experience,

didn't you? I did. Hopefully, I can use a birth

centre again. It was really good and the carer was great. I had a -- I

had a water birth. A normal, natural birth. Everything went well and the

midwives were just amazing. Did you have concerns about what would

happen if things went wrong and how far away doctors might be?

Thankfully, I was in a birth centre attached to the hospital. That was

important, because Eli, being my first birth, I didn't want to be far

from hospital. For the second one, because I know every birth is

different, I probably would be fine using a stand-alone midwifery led

birthing unit. For the first one, I wanted to be close to a hospital.

Sarah was talking about the importance of risk assessment to

make sure that the right women are sent to these midwife units. What do

you say to that? Is that a fair enough point to make? It is a fair

enough point, but what we see, and what I have seen for a long time,

and it doesn't change, in our experience, mistakes are made in

terms of risk assessment. Is that what it comes down to? Just to be

clear, the wrong people are going, not necessarily that any birth is

unpredictable? I think it is both. I think it is important to assess risk

and get it correct, but mistakes are made, and women are assessed as low

risk as in Sam's case, so we see that. Also, birth is unpredictable.

The majority of work that I do is children who are brain injured, and

you have got a maximum of ten minutes before you see a problem if

the oxygen supply as been cut off completely. You're talking about

potentially damaging brain injury, and ten minutes is not very long. I

read out the statement from the trust involved in Richard's case,

saying that they had learned lessons and they continue to learn. In your

experience, our lessons learned from every mistake is mac I think some

are, but were denied -- midwives -- from every mistake is mac I think

some are, but if you have a midwife who has two women in labour, and

they get into difficulties, which one do they go with?

Thank you for joining us. Unfortunately, we've lost Richard

during the conversation, but it was good to hear the perspective of all

of you. Thank you to Richard if you can see us talking.

A viewer says, hope you can see this, all my love and best wishes.

My heart goes out to you all. Do keep getting in touch with

everything we are talking about today.

Coming up: Would you mind seeing

your GP on Skype? We'll hera from family doctors

who are investigating new ways And we talk to a number of people

who say they're victims of a timeshare offer that wasn't

all it was cracked up to be. Here's Annita McVeigh

in the BBC Newsroom A group of senior medics has called

on both sides in the long-running junior doctors dispute to agree

to fresh talks in an attempt to avoid a further

escalation in the crisis. The Academy of Medical Royal

Colleges, which represents doctors on training and education,

says both sides should agree The BMA says it's prepared to agree,

but the government said it was too late to suspend

the contract imposition. A woman from West Yorkshire has been

telling this programme about a string of hospital failings

before her son was stillborn. Sam Reid's son Theo died

at a midwife-led unit After taking legal action the NHS

Trust responsible admitted liability, apologised and settled

out of court. Sam Reid has told the BBC how

she feels the care she received led Here - the polls have opened

for local, regional and some parliamentary elections

across the UK, on what's been The elections are for

the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales,

Northern Ireland Assembly New mayors will be elected

in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Salford,

and there are parliamentary by-elections in Ogmore

and Sheffield Brightside. Police and crime commissioners

are also being elected Barnet Council in north London has

apologised this morning for problems It says a number of people

who didn't have their polling cards It advises people who were turned

away to return later. Diplomatic pressure

from the United States and Russia has led to the embattled city

of Aleppo being included The agreement came into force a few

hours ago, and there's already been Syrian state television confirmed

the army had announced A state of emergency has been

declared in the Canadian province of Alberta because of a raging

wildfire which threatens 88,000 people -

the entire population of Fort McMurray -

was ordered to evacuate yesterday. Now it's feared large parts

of the city could be The fire, driven on by fierce winds,

has already gutted 1600 buildings, while oil companies operating

in the area have been Some people took refuge

in the nearby town of Anzac, but now an evacuation has

been ordered there too. Investigators have yet to establish

what caused the blaze. Britain's newest daily newspaper

"The New Day" is closing down, just Publisher Trinity Mirror said that

circulation for the title was well below expectations,

despite supportive reviews and There were hopes that the paper

would sell about 200,000 copies a day, but sales

are reported to be about 40,000. At least 31 people have been injured

after an Etihad Airways flight ran in to severe turbulence as it

prepared to land in the Indonesian Nine passengers and crew were taken

to hospital while the others The United Arab Emirates' national

airline said that cabin luggage bins were damaged while passengers said

oxygen masks were released That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 10:00am. Here's some sport now with Hugh,

and a disappointing end Good morning. Bad news if you are a

Manchester City fan today. They were 90 minutes away from a first

Champions League final, but they didn't create much, beating 1-0 by

Real Madrid in Spain. Manuel Pellegrini said he had no regrets

about their approach. City fans may beg to differ. That deflected shot

from Gareth bail meant a golfer Fernando.

Juergen clop believes the support at Anfield tonight could make the

difference. Rebel have replaced one of their

drivers with an 18-year-old. They have replaced him, they say, so he

can regain his form. Zara Tindall is hoping to book her

place at the Rio Olympics. The Olympic silver medallist will look

for an individual spot. That is all the sport for now. Back

to you, Joanna. Have you ever been tempted

by the idea of a timeshare? Thousands of us own them and enjoy

great holidays but a group of over 400 timeshare owners are claiming

they were sold a dud, The group are fighting

for compensation in a landmark legal case that could lead

to thousands of claims. They argue that the company

they bought into - RCI Europe - didn't always deliver on the promise

of easy exchange of a week bought RCI Europe says it will prove

the dispute is unfounded and they have always made clear

that members may not get Let's speak now to Jonathan Price,

a time share owner taking part in the class action

and Paul Gardner Bougaard, chief executive of Resort

Development Organisation, which represents

timeshare companies. Jonathan, tell us, you are taking

part in this class action - why? I bought my first time she in 1984,

four ?7,800, a lot of money in those days. I bought into it for two

reasons. First, the promise of endless holidays. They had a

fabulous, glossy brochure showing pictures of all the places in the

world. The promise was, what, that you would have a week in one

environment but you could change it every year from where you wanted to

go? RCI is the exchange system, it is the club for time-share owners.

You deposit your week in their bank and then you can withdraw someone

else's week. That is the idea. They said, if you buy this time-share in

London now, you can exchange it for all of these wonderful places in the

brochure. How did it work out? It didn't work out very well. We

discovered fairly quickly, my wife and I, that we couldn't get the

places we wanted to go to. We made application after application for

places that we really wanted to go to that had attracted us in the

first place. It dawned on us after a few years that we had to change our

strategy, because it was very frustrating constantly asking to go

to places and being told there wasn't any availability. Instead of

doing that, we turn things around, and I used to bring RCI and say,

where do you have available? And then I would choose. But that was

not the promise in the first post. You have had it for a long time - 32

years. Yes. Why has it taken so long to complain? As an individual, you

don't feel there is much you can do. I have complained that there is not

much action you can take until someone talked about starting this

class action, which enabled us to get together. Paul, I know you are

not speaking about this particular case, but how many owners do the

exchange? There are about 1.2 million time-share owners in Europe,

about... You have to understand a lot of our members, owners will

exchange within the group or go to the exchange companies. It is a

fairly complex system, and the exchange will depend on the value of

the time-share being deposited, the time of year someone wants to go. As

Mr Price said, it depends on what is available at a particular time. It

is quite complex. In their statement of case, RCI say that they have

always made clear that not all members will achieve the exchanges

they desire. It is inherent in any exchange system that that is the

case. That's correct. I have been a time-share owner in the past and we

have used exchange. Sometimes it works, sometimes it hasn't. If I do

it last-minute, I can get the exchange I want, where we are going

to Thailand next month and that was easy to get hold of. The vast

majority... RCI in Europe has several loans, most of whom are

satisfied. In terms of the proportion of cases that they say

are involved, they say it is a tiny fraction. I can't find the figure

right now. They say it is a tiny fraction of 1%. In terms of the

number of the whole pool. Going back to RCI, and they say they are

robustly defending this case. They say the case is founded on a

fundamental misunderstanding of how the system works and that the

claimants are claiming that RCI skims off time-shares. They say they

don't. That would mean that they took the prime properties out of the

pool and rented them out to make money. They say they absolutely

don't do that. Have you ever come across that happening, Paul? I

haven't. The court will need to decide on that. Not to my knowledge.

It is a case that's going to court. We will keep across what happens.

Thank you both for coming in and joining us.

Coming up - how the virtual world could help sufferers

It's a great story. Stay with us for that.

Britain's newest daily newspaper - The New Day - is to close just nine

The editor - Alison Philips - said they had tried everything,

but had failed to make the newspaper financially viable.

New Day was the first new national paper since the i began in 2010.

Our correspondent Jane-Frances Kelly has been following the story.

Jane you've been out this morning getting reaction -

I went into the centre of London to talk to people to see if they knew

about the closure and to show them the paper and say, have you read it?

What did you think about it? Sadly, most people hadn't even heard about

it, which indicates the problem. Have you seen this newspaper? Never.

Would you have bought it if you had seen it? Probably not. I wonder if

you have ever bought it or seen it? I have never heard of it. It was

launched two months ago and is closing down. I have never heard of

it, and I work in advertising. That is quite surprising. It appears to

be very low profile. Yes, I haven't seen it. It is being handed out at

stations? No, you have to pay for it. Oh... I wasn't aware of it, will

you? Where do they sell it? I guess, in newsagents. It is 50p. It seems

reasonable, and it seems like a few pages. It is a lot for 50p. I wasn't

aware. As you can tell most people were not

aware of it and had not read it. I think the problem is it didn't have

a website, and more people are adjusting views online and it didn't

seem to have a unique selling point, many critics said it was a hot

porch, with papers like the Metro which have been successful people

would pick it up when going to work or coming back.

Thank you, Jane Frances-Kelly. Another truce of sorts was declared

again in the Syrian town of Aleppo yesterday,

but however many times we hear the word ceasefire, the violence

in the war torn country seems Explosions have been heard

across the city and the regime is blaming rebels for violating

the deal with This morning, we're going to be live

in Syria hearing from those living Ala Tchalabi's mum,

dad and sister live in the government-held

part of Aleppo. at the Institute

of Language Studies. family have been killed

by government bombing. Also joining us from Aleppo

is Wissam Zarkau, an English teacher at Aleppo's Institute of Language

Studies. He lives in the rebel-held

area of Aleppo. And Declan Walsh, journalist

for the New York Times who has Thank you for joining us. Mohammed

you are living with your family in the rebel held area of Aleppo. Tell

us what life is like they're on a daily basis for you. Heller,

everybody. It is extremely painful to let you know Aleppo is burning,

to tell you serious is bleeding. That is what Bashar Al-Assad wanted,

to kill civilians everywhere, in every terrain of Syria, especially

in the free city of Aleppo. They are going to see a mother weeping over

her own children. Weeping over their families, the carcasses of innocent

children, people who have seen nothing in their life but this kind

of killing, who see nothing murdering and displacement. That is

what Bashar Al-Assad wanted to do for the Syrian people. I want to

bring in Wissam who lives in the same part of Aleppo as you. Wissam

what is your experience of life there? Similar. My family is OK

because they had to run away to Turkey and they are living there and

I'm glad they are safe but I prefer to stay here. I was abroad but I

came back. Why do you prefer to stay there? Because they need people who

can teach, they need doctors, people need engineers, we need everyone who

can help. It wouldn't be OK to run away in such circumstances, because

it is very dangerous for everyone, doctors, teachers, all the people,

so people run away but I could stay and I'm here, this is the idea.

There was the ceasefire, which obviously came to an end. It is

supposed to be back in force again. What has it been like in recent days

and months? Today it's better, no bombing, but

only for 48 hours, and they have to accept it because they are having

some battles somewhere else, that's why. When they are not fighting,

Free Syrian Army would-be bombing us. Either they are fighting with

the Russian regime, or they are bombing us. I understand why you

want to stay because you want to teach but are you concerned for your

safety? It's OK, even if we have to die, this would come everywhere, in

Turkey, in Europe. You are with me in the studio, but you have family

living in the government-held part of Aleppo, what communication do you

have with them and what is life like for them? Communication is difficult

because they have a lack of electricity and Internet but we use

mobile messaging to keep in touch daily. I spoke to them in the last

two days. The last 12 days have been very difficult, they described it as

constant bombardment and shelling, like rain, they said. They try to

stay at home as much as possible. Obviously they have to get out and

about sometimes. This is their daily life now, this is their reality.

They feel they are living on hope, they are also resilient, as are most

people in Aleppo. They feel they have been let down by international

community. How do you feel knowing that people

who you love so much are in that environment where they are at such

great risk? It's very difficult, obviously

because part of me wants to be with them. You were asking the gentleman

what he wants to go back, because this is home, this is where we were

brought up and I need to see my family. I obviously have other

responsibilities because I have a kid here so I can't go back and they

can't come out. It's very difficult, they are stuck, it is like a prison.

But at the same time life has to go on. It has been five years and we

have to go on with our lives, but it is scarring everybody, whether

physically or mentally, everyone involved. Let's bring in Declan

Walsh, the New York Times journalist. What was it like in

Aleppo? On the outskirts of the city it has unfortunately got those

iconic images of Syria where you have devastated suburbs, people

living in very bad conditions, the surprising thing when you get into

the centre of the city, the government-controlled aside, I

wasn't able to go to the rebel side, as you speak indicated, there is a

semblance of normal life going on, there is a lot of traffic, shops are

open, people are going to schools and universities, but in the

background there is this constant, every couple of hours, and sometimes

more frequently, explosions going off, some of it is the sound of

Russian warplanes dropping bombs on the rebel side and sometimes it is

rebel artillery coming into the government side and dropping in

civilian neighbourhoods indiscriminately as far as one can

make out. Sometimes when people step outside their front door to go about

their daily business they know they are taking a risk and that can

result in death. Wissam, you were nodding through a lot of that, what

Declan said about normal life going on but there is this drop their all

the time as well. Yes, we're getting used to it, what is happening.

Schools stopped for about two weeks, but people get used to it, life gets

back to normal after the attacks. People try and clean the Ashes and

whatever and come back to life. Do you really remember life before it

being like this, and can you imagine what life might be like for you in

the future. ? I guess it would be excellent

without Bashar Al-Assad. Now we can do what we want, we can criticise

the people in control of our areas. This is something new, this freedom

is something new. Life could be wonderful when the war ends, when

the revolution succeeds. How would you feel being away from it? Would

you want to go back? My sister was here for a while and

went back a few months ago. Why did she do that? She couldn't be

away from her mum for so long. It's that feeling of wanting to see

them, of course I'd like to go back and help but as an individual I will

probably add nothing and probably become another casualty if I go

back. It is very frustrating because I can see that on an individual

level people sympathise, people want to help out and reach out if they

can, but collectively, as a country, or as different nations there is

very little being done. I'm constantly frustrated, that maybe I

should do something but the reality is there is nothing I can do and we

can only do it collectively and governments should do something on

our behalf, that is what we hope. Thank you for joining us. We have

some comments about maternity services in maternity led units

after Sam told us about her experiences in a maternity led unit

which led to the tragic death of her baby.

Hen - Would it not be prudent to have a doctor

Kenneth tweeted - childbirth: are some of these

problems exacerbated by closing too many local hospitals serving

We have a text from an anonymous person.

It's a fine balance to achieve the ideal birthing environment.

I have had two premature births, and am grateful for the doctors

A tweet from Nicola - my daughter was delivered immediately.

Grateful for amazing a neonatal intensive care unit team

who took amazing care of her when she needed it.

I had the perfect pregnancy, ideal for a midwife unit, it was traumatic

and could have gone so wrong without doctors. Thank you for your

comments, keep on getting in touch about that and everything else we

are talking about. Let's get the latest weather

update - with Phil Avery. Good morning, lots of bright

weather, you are not alone in Derbyshire, the skies have been blue

in many areas. Further north through the central swathe of Scotland it is

a mixture of sunny spells and a fair amount of cloud. In between those

two regimes we have a weather front of the Borders area in the southern

part of Scotland producing a bit of rain, not much more than that, but

what I should say is south of the weather front the pollen levels are

quite high, so there is a price to pay for the sunshine, and that's

only half the story on that one, I will come back to that in a second.

A different regime across the North Western corner of Scotland, showers

rattling along on a rather noticeable south-westerly wind. But

the greater part of the country enjoying fine and dry weather and

temperature is responding as a consequence. It is cool issued

across the far north-west of Scotland but further south and in

inland areas it will be well into the teens if not 20 degrees but this

is the other half of the payoff, the UV levels will be high, this is the

first time I've said this the season, so don't be caught out,

there is a good deal of strength in the sun this time of year. Into the

first part of Friday cool -ish start for some but we still have our old

friend the weather front to the east side of Scotland, so low cloud and

the odd bit of rain here. It is brighter but with a risk of showers

further west in Scotland and through Northern Ireland and much of England

and Wales hazy sunshine but that will not stop you burning. It will

not stop the temperatures either, up into the mid-teens and low 20s,

importing much of the warmth if you see it from the western

Mediterranean around the flank of the low pressure and into the

British Isles. But come Saturday there will be a supply of moisture

as well that will work its way primarily but not exclusively up the

western side and following behind the persistent rain we may have a

rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning as heavy showers

developing the northern parts of the Midlands, and North Wales too.

Saturday into Sunday we will push the area of persistent rain away

from the north-western quarter, the mainland of Scotland, noticed the

isobars, quite breezy and it's a bit on shore so north of the Humber

along the eastern shore so there could be low cloud, disappointing

fare there. What will make the headlines is those temperatures

across the greater part of England, Wales and southern Scotland are set

to soar. Welcome to the programme

if you've just joined us. Could people suffering from paranoia

be held by virtual therapy? We investigate a radical new therapy.

Would you see your GP on a Saturday? We are talking to doctors who are

trying out new ways of seeing their patients.

Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom with a summary of today's news.

The Department of Health says it is too late to suspend the imposition

of new junior doctor contract in anger. It comes after an attempt to

break the deadlock by the Academy of Royal colleges, which has asked for

a five-day pause in order to enable talks to resume.

A series of strikes by junior doctors in England affecting

routine care was followed last week by two walk-outs on all forms

That was unprecedented in the history of the NHS

but with consultants and other staff covering the gaps hospitals reported

This weekend junior doctor representatives are meeting

Now leaders of the medical profession are calling

for a five-day pause to allow talks during which the government

would temporarily suspend work on introducing the new contract,

and the BMA would not plan further action.

We are calling for a focused, brief, five-day pause where it gives both

sides an opportunity to participate with no ifs, buts, or maybes,

Because they tell us that they are 95% in agreement.

So surely it must be possible to finally close this gap

for the benefit of the NHS junior doctors and patients.

The British Medical Association said it would agree to the proposal

and temporarily suspend industrial action to allow talks

with a mutually agreed facilitator as long as the government did

The Department of Health, though, said it was too late to change

the process of bringing in contracts which was well underway.

But the door was open for talks about implementation

There's a new partial ceasefire in place in the embattled

Syrian city of Aleppo following violent clashes

between government and rebel forces this week which have

Diplomatic pressure from the United States and Russia

led to a 48-hour truce being declared.

BT has announced it will spend ?6 billion on rolling out superfast

fibre and 4G mobile connections. The company which took over EE in

January, says it's profits have risen to just over ?3 billion.

Here, the polls have opened for local, regional and some

parliamentary elections across the UK, on what's been

The Prime Minister and the Labour leader cast their votes in the May

oral election this morning. The elections are for

the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales,

Northern Ireland Assembly and a 124 New mayors will be elected

in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Salford,

and there are parliamentary by-elections in Ogmore

and Sheffield Brightside. Police and crime commissioners

are also being elected Barnet Council in North London has

apologised after problems with its voter registration lists

led to people without polling cards being unable to cast

their votes this morning. The council says it's sent out

updated lists and is advising people to bring their polling card

with them to vote. It says those who were turned away

from polling stations this morning A state of emergency has been

declared in the Canadian province of Alberta because of a raging

wildfire which threatens 88,000 people, the entire population

of Fort McMurray, was ordered Now it's feared large parts

of the area could be The fire, driven on by fierce winds,

has already gutted more At least 31 people have been injured

after an Etihad Airways flight ran in to severe turbulence as it

prepared to land in the Indonesian Nine passengers and crew were taken

to hospital while the others The United Arab Emirates' national

airline said that cabin luggage bins were damaged while passengers said

oxygen masks were released Britain's newest daily newspaper

"The New Day" is closing down, just Publisher Trinity Mirror said that

circulation for the title was well below expectations,

despite supportive reviews and There were hopes that the paper

would sell about 200,000 copies a day, but sales

are reported to be about 40,000. That's a summary of the latest BBC

News, more at 10.30. Take a look at this... When you

think of virtual reality... Actually, we will talk about that

later, and how it is helping people get over paranoia. Do stay with us

for that. Now, sport. Well this weekend is a pivotal

one for Amir Khan - a fourth high profile defeat

could mean the end for those glitzy Facing the highly-fancied

Mexican Saul Alvarez but in the build up he's been

in relaxed mood, spending time with the BBC for 'the Rise of Khan' -

made by our very own Alex South... Alex, we'll be talking

to you in just in sec about the making of it,

but first let's have As soon as I moved to San Francisco,

I got this apartment. When my wife came, she said, I want to be in a

nice place and make it more formally, so she redecorated

everything for me. Have you cleaned up? It is always clean. This is it.

The dietary needs looked after - all the fruit. That's right. That is my

diet. Take what you want. BBC Sport video journalist

Alex South is with me. I was expecting something more

glamorous. What was it like spending time with him and his family?

Hopefully, it's a glimpse into what it takes to become a champion. As

you could see there, it is not the most luxurious flat. He stays there

with his and brother, and he eat and sleep 's boxing. He sacrifices, goes

away from his family. He plays volleyball to try and strengthen his

legs at 7:30am. He then goes for a sleep in a special chamber at 11am

to get his muscled back in order, and then he goes back to the gym for

sparring in the afternoon before eating the right foods and going to

bed again. It is an incredible insight into what it takes to become

the best. He is hoping to do that this weekend. You really chart a

journey with him. Most people will remember him coming to the forger in

the Olympics in 2004. What is the difference now? He's 29, but how has

he changed as a person? The big difference is that he has had a

family. There is a clip in the programme where he is speaking to

Gary Richardson in 2004 at the Olympics, and he looks so young. You

forget, he was just 17 years old. No one thought he could get to the

Olympics, let alone get a silver medal. He has had a bumpy ride -

brushes with the law, he admits to being a bit flash when he was

younger, fast cars and expensive watches. But there is a side that a

lot of people don't know about. When the teller ban -- Caliban murdered

schoolchildren in pleasure while, he went out to see the families that

had been affected. He also helped the recent victims of the floods in

Carlisle. It is the sort of stuff you don't really hear about him.

Family has changed him, and for the better. He has grown as a person. He

is 29 years old and he has been doing this since he was eight years

old. He works incredibly hard that his craft. Whether it will be enough

for him to win at the weekend, that is another matter. He is going up

not one but two waits. It is a hell of an effort. Thank you for joining

us. You can watch the documentary on the iPlayer. We will be talking

about Formula 1 at half past ten. See you then.

The Department of Health says it's too late to suspend the imposition

of new junior doctors contracts in England after an attempt

to break the deadlock by a group of senior medics.

This morning, the Academy of Royal Colleges called

for a five-day pause in the process of imposing new contracts,

and a simultaneous suspension of the threat of further industrial

action, to enable talks between the British Medical Association

and the Department of Health to resume.

Our health editor is here. This proposal on the table, the BMA say

yes, but the Department of Health say no.

The BMA say they will go along with this. The key point was to get both

sides around the table without having to completely give up on

their lines in the sand. For the Government, it's going ahead with

imposing the new contract. It feels it is a fair contract and needs to

be worked on before being introduced in August. The BMA don't want to

have any talks with a Government that is hell-bent on continuing to

impose the process. They thought was, if users bent that for five

days, the Government suspends further work on the contract, the

BMA suspends further talk of industrial action, you could get

round the table. The BMA says that they could do that but the

Government says they cannot suspend the work but they are prepared to

talk about a range of other issues. Why will the Government not suspend

its work for five days? The Royal colleges are backed in the

suggestion that they think it is possible. They talked until

Fairbrother e-commerce concessions were made. They alleged -- the

Government alleged that the BMA would not continue to talk. I think

they will be under a bit of pressure to explain why they are not prepared

to engage at this stage with the BMA, sets to have a meeting on

Saturday about escalating strike action further.

How much pressure is there on the Department of Health? Might they

change their stance on this? It will be interesting to see. Today

we haven't had a comment yet from Downing Street. They will be

briefing journalists shortly. I think they feel this is a public

sector dispute. They feel they have made a lot of concessions to a

public sector union, and to sort of suddenly go back on that and back

into talks sends a confusing message. They think this is a fair

contract to be pursued. The entire medical establishment are saying,

look, this is worth doing. With that, it is a little bit difficult

to resist. Let's talk now to Johann Malawana,

who's the chair of the BMA's Thank you for joining us. The

Department of Health says these talks have been going on for a long

time, two years, what is the point of another five days? The main

question to ask is that this is an opportunity to avoid what has been

an extremely damaging episode in the NHS. I think every doctor in the NHS

and the BMA feels that this is something no doctor would want to

do. We feel the Government has pushed us into this. The fact that

80% and more of doctors took action says a lot about what the medical

profession think. As Hugh said, you have all the medical colleges, the

NHS Confederation, everyone saying there needs to be a rethink.

Realistically, has anything really changed? If neither side is ready to

come from eyes and everything that is being said doesn't indicate that

there is really much room for further negotiation, is five days

really going to make a difference when the Government's position is

that there have been concessions, you were almost there, the

difference is now boiled down to quite a small area, and they say it

was actually the BMA who walked away from talks at that point. Let's be

clear, it is an arbitrary timetable. Come August, whatever happens, the

NHS will carry on. There will be doctors working. The idea that we

have an absolute deadline that cannot in any way be deviated from

is a manifestation of the Government's problem. A deadline can

focus minds. But if we're not talking, there nothing else to do

when you are in our position. If you are a junior doctor in the front

line and you're having a contract imposed on you and you have no

ability to affect that, and they have all said it, thousands of

doctors have said that this contract is not appropriate or save, and yet

the Government continues to impose it.

The BMA 's meeting on Saturday. What will be on the table?

The next meeting of the junior doctors committee will... There is

no further strike action planned as things stand? There is the full

range of options that has been outlined extensively in the media.

The fact is that doctors don't want to take any form of action, even the

first form of action, emergency care only, that was something that hadn't

happened in many years. The strike we saw recently was the first time

it had happened in the NHS. Would you look to escalate? You have

crossed those lines, will another line we crossed with future action?

Will there be another strike if there is no compromise? If the

government continues down this course of action there are very few

options left to doctors because we are seeing Day in and day out

reports of doctors leaving the NHS. Just focusing on what you think is

likely to be the next step, would it be an escalation of the action?

If the Government pursues this course of action. Which it says it

will. Then there are very few options the

junior doctors have to make. Unfortunately, I'm not going to

pre-and that because we have a democratic process in place to try

and work out what the next stages. But, and we have taken soundings

across the profession and across the entire membership, the fact is that

is a decision for Saturday. If the Government say they are unwilling to

even talk to us, everyone can see that when you have 22 Royal colleges

and faculties, the NHS Confederation, all of the political

parties saying to the government you need to sit round the table and talk

to the doctors there has got to be something done about that. I will

read you a statement from a spokesperson from the Department of

Health. the introduction of new contracts

after we agreed to suspend imposition last November,

because they went back on their word "It is now too late to change

the process of bringing in contracts which is well under way

throughout the country. However, the door remains open

to talk about implementation and many other non-contractual

issues of concern to junior doctors - so if this intervention helps

those talks to go ahead, What about that? That says a lot

about the Government position, the fact is their own equalities impact

assessment says this is a discriminatory contract. If they say

they will still talk about it. Talk about all the issues not to do

with the contract when the contract itself is the dispute and what is

discriminatory against more than half the population of our medics,

that is almost ridiculous. And talking about something better

than nothing, though, just opening the dialogue again.

We are always happy to talk, the problem is the government Mac

refuses to engage. Sounds like you say you are both

happy to talk. The Government is putting up

qualified statements we are not happy to talk about this issue but

we will talk about anything as long as it is not this issue. That is a

really odd way about running the health service, because right now we

are seeing the health service Razzak a stack -- as a catastrophe waiting

to happen. Very quickly, because the area of disagreement focuses on

Saturday pay, doesn't it? Not as simple as that, the Government

claims that but I wrote to the Secretary of State... On the areas

of disagreement then, would the BMA compromise?

There is such a range of issues that we need to work out how this

contract actually works. The main issue is, can you enact a contract

that is fundamentally going to unsafe on doctors' working practices

and unfair on a significant proportion of the community where

effective leaders discriminatory. Sounds like the BMA is not willing

to compromise will stop we were always willing to compromise and we

went through an entire negotiation process in a truncated time because

the Government wanted that time period.

We were always trying to work out solutions. We were effectively given

three weeks to do three years' work and the Government walked away from

those negotiations in February and decided to impose a contract. The

Government can claim that we are the ones that are not talking to them

but we have always said that we are happy to talk, from the 11th of

February we said to the Secretary of State we are happy to talk, why do

we carry on the discussions? Basically say we walked away, we

didn't, we were there and ready to talk to them and they refused to do

so. Thank you for joining us. More revelations surrounding the

death of Prince. Now we are told that his team sought help from a

doctor who treats painkiller addiction just before he was found

dead. Over 500,000 people in the UK

are affected by severe paranoia Now scientists think that virtual

reality could help treat VR technology, as it is known,

is most commonly used for playing games but could exposing patients

who suffer from paranoia to situations that would normally

frighten them in a virtual way A small research project

by scientists at Oxford University Our health reporter Fergus Walsh has

been to try out the technology. I'm putting on the virtual

reality headset. Just tighten up

the controls. And it's transformed me onto a Tube

platform, I think it is I'm standing on the Tube platform

now, and I can walk up If I walk too far I'll be by the end

of the entrance to the tunnel, but, let's wait

for the Tube train to arrive. OK, the doors have opened,

and I am going to step in, And it's a pretty busy

Tube train, there is paranoia, took part in this study

and they suffer persecutory Feelings that people are going

to harm them, do something to them, and many of them hear voices,

and they were encouraged to set This sort of scenario

in reality would be And it worked most

successfully when they defences and go toe to toe with

people. There is a chap here

in a blue T-shirt. You would not really

do this on a normal Tube train,

but you can go right up And with the participants they found

that when they could address those fears and go up

to people, and realise that the avatars were not

going to harm them, that it actually translated and transferred

injury almost and helped them reduce actually translated

and transferred into real life Let's talk now to Professor Daniel

Freeman who lead the research Thank you for joining us. When did

the penny dropped that this technology could be used in this

way? Good morning, Virtual reality is

something we have been using for a number of years, firstly simply to

assess paranoia, because sometimes when people fear somebody will harm

them, it can be genuine paranoia, or not. We use virtual reality to

assess people and also ensure it is safe to use. We've used it for a

number of years but it has really taken on life over the last year or

two, especially with the are taking off and all the headsets coming out

and reaching people's homes. We've used it in this Medical Research

Council study for the first time to treat paranoia. When you said you

needed to check out whether it was safe to use in this way what were

the concerns about it? In the past there have been concerns about

virtual reality making people have cyber sickness, that was the term

used. But also the low concerns that people who had excessive mistrust

would become mistrustful about the agreement but we haven't found that

and we have found people appreciated the chance to try the new

technology. In the patients that it helped was it an instant fix? It was

half an hour, that is all we use, this is an early stage study, we

need to do more time with Villar and more clinical trials but just half

an hour of going into social situations -- VR. They were fearful

of what might happen but they learned to tolerate the anxiety and

relearn they are safe around other people and the paranoia began to

melt away. So the benefits were remarkably quick. We need to do more

studies of this. But it is looking very promising and the benefits

transferred to the real-world. Later on people went to their real local

shop and were much less distressed. It's interesting that it does

transferred to the world when this is something that is being done

obviously in a very closed situation where somebody could still say it's

fine, I guess it works well in the virtual world but why in the real

world wouldn't I feel about the threat that I have? That is one of

the great things about virtual reality, consciously we know it is

not real but our minds and bodies act as if it is the real world, so

despite everyone knowing that it's not real they can relearn safety.

This is great because it means people who are particularly worried

about entering social situations, you may find it too difficult to

start doing that in the real world, can go into virtual reconstructions,

do very simple virtual reconstructions with few people in

them and we can build up and it leads to real benefits, despite them

knowing it is not real. Are there any other applications for

this? Are their obvious other ways it could be used?

Yes, VI has a long history of being used to treat fear of heights. --

VR. With a fear of heights you get people used to standing in front of

real heights and it doesn't matter if you use real heights, or virtual

heights the effects are the same and that's an example of how the are

tricks the mind to believe it is the real-world -- VR. You go into the

computer world with the headset and it feels like you are there. Until

you have a go with the are -- VR you don't realise how immersive and

realistic it can be. That could be used in another context such as

flying or any thing. Does it have to be an ongoing treatment? In the

study of virtual reality it was a one-off assessment and it was just

over a day, so we just wanted to see the effects so we don't have the

data on that but in treating phobias, fears of spiders, the data

suggests these fears persist so you probably need a few hours and

ideally need to integrate it to incorporate real-life situations and

not just in VR. If you combine the two effectively you can see real

change. Obviously you work with people who have real fears. For the

lucky few who may not have any real fear of anything, how would you

explain what it is like for someone who has a crippling fear of

something, whatever it is? I think we must remember anxiety is

one of the most basic emotions, it is a warning system about danger.

It's an important emotion and we should have it because their RL

threats out there in the world but of course it is a warning system

which means when we have anxiety it feels horrible, most of us have

probably had some experience is feeling anxious, and imagine that

being magnified in also such situations where you used to be able

to cope with them but now you get those horrible feelings when

surrounded by other people, it feels horrible, the people who took part

in our study were very courageous, went into the situations that make

them feel anxious initially but they stayed in their and they relearn

their safety and developed a new-found confidence from this.

It boils down to facing up to your fears?

Partly. Even more what we do is in courage people to drop all of their

defences, so when we feel threatened, typically what we do is

avoid other people, so we try to get people not to do that and we take

the most difficult steps and find out. Of course, this is the right

thing to do when the fears are unfounded.

Thank you for joining us. , interesting to talk to you,

Professor David Freeman. Still to come

would you see your GP at the weekend or be happy to talk

to them on Skype? We'll talk to a group of GPs

about how they treat their patients More revelations surrounding the

death of Prince, we here that his team spoke to a doctor specialising

in addiction to painkilling drugs. It is important to get back to talks

in the dispute that has seen NHS disrupted by industrial action. A

group of senior medics, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has called

on both sides to agree to a pause in the dispute and to fresh

negotiations. The Government says it is too late to suspend the

imposition of a new contract. There is a new partial ceasefire in

place in the embattled city of Aleppo in Syria following violent

clashes between government and rebel forces this week leaving us instead.

Diplomatic pressure from the United States and Russia led to a 48-hour

truce being declared. The telecoms company BT has

announced it will spend ?6 billion on rolling out superfast fibre and

4G mobile connections over the next three years. The company which took

over the mobile phone and broadband company EE in January says its

annual pre-tax profits have risen 15% to just over ?3 billion.

The polls have opened for local, regional and some Parliamentary

elections across the UK on what has been called super Thursday. The

Prime Minister and labour leader cast their votes in the London

mayoral election this morning. Elsewhere elections are being held

for the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales, Northern

Ireland Assembly and 124 councils in England. New mayors will be elected

in Bristol, Liverpool and Salford and our Parliamentary by-elections

in Ogmore and Sheffield Brightside. Meanwhile Police and Crime

Commissioner is our being elected in England and Wales.

Barnet council in north London, meanwhile, has apologised after

problems with its voter registration lists led to be bought without

polling cards being unable to cast their votes this morning. The

council says it has sent out updated lists and is advising people to

bring their polling card with them to vote. It says those turned away

from police tastings this morning should return and try again later.

State of Emergency has been declared in the Canadian province of Alberta

because of a raging wildfire which threatens to destroy most of the

city. 88,000 people, the entire population of Fort McMurray, was

ordered to evacuate yesterday. Now it is feared large parts of the area

could be lost to the flames. The fire, driven on by fierce winds has

already gutted more than 1000 buildings.

At least 31 people have been injured after an Etihad Airways flight run

into severe At least 31 people have been injured

after an Etihad Airways flightran in to severe turbulence as it

prepared to land in the Indonesian Nine passengers and crew were taken

to hospital while the others The United Arab Emirates' national

airline said that cabin luggage bins were damaged while passengers said

oxygen masks were released Join me for BBC newsroom live out

the 11am. Now, sport. We have some pretty unusual news from Formula 1

today. Not usual for a team to change a driver mid-season. It has

happened,... He was born in 1997, the son of Joss

first Ave -- kerb. In the overall standings, he finished 12th juror in

his first season. -- Verstappen let's speak to Jenny.

Imagine getting a call from your boss saying, we are demoting you. He

has been demoted while Verstappen has a promotion. I don't know how

you come back from that. You have been at 18, think you have done

really well, been promoted into the full team, and then you're back

where you began. You are watching this young star rise through the

ranks to take your place. That must hurt. Why are they doing this? It is

unusual, isn't it? Red Bull have a track record of

being exceptionally harsh with their young drivers. They have a driver

programme, and we have seen drivers come in and leave within two years

of having started what seemed to be a great career in Formula 1. It is

not out of character for Red Bull, but after four braces, it is

strange, and a lot of people are reading a lot into this. He had a

terrible race in Russia, his home race, and he crashed into the back

of Sebastien vet all, a man who used to drive for Red Bull, so not the

best political thing to do. One race before that he was on the podium, so

to go from here wrote to zero to quickly and be told that you're out

of your seat and you have to make way for Verstappen is very painful,

and lots of people are saying, why is this happening and why now? I

suspect they could not do it before the Russian Grand Prix, given that

he is Russian driver, however, Verstappen is hot property. Who

knows who was sniffing around to try to get him to sign on the dotted

line, and I think it is a way of guarding Verstappen for the future.

Thank you for joining us this morning. I will be back with more

sport throughout the day. For the first time, a human embryo

has been kept alive past the point when it would normally implant

in the womb. That's 13 days - right up

to the current legal limit on growing and studying human

embryos outside the body. The experiments were deliberately

ended to stay within the law. Some researchers say extending

the international limit may help scientists learn more

about the reasons some women suffer We can speak now to professor

Jonathon Montgomery, from the Nuffield Council

on Bio-ethics, who are meeting Thank you very much for joining us.

What is your view of this? How much of a step forward is it? The 14 day

rule dates back to 1984, and it hasn't been thought to be needed to

review it since then. Suddenly, the scientists have identified something

that we might as a society want to know. We should think about whether

it is knowledge worth having on whether it offends against our

susceptibility is. The independent Government body that exists to

explore the social, moral and legal issues around advances in science,

the Nuffield trust, at this I did it is time to take stock of the reasons

for the rule. It has an open mind and will want to know what people

think. It will last the question, should we accept this? What will be

weighed up in deciding this? Is it about it being information worth

having? We know that all embryo research, all research currently

carried out, is of concern to some people in society, and it would be

wrong if the law went to far-away. It is also important to understand

the causes of miscarriage, to understand how we might help

treatments being developed to help with infertility. If it is the case

that, looking longer at how embryos developed could help us understand

those things, then many people might think that is information worth

having. It is not worth having at any price, and we would need to

explore the reasons why people think there should be limits. Why was the

14 day limit arrived that in the first place? There are a range of

reasons why people gave for supporting it in 1984. Two of those

relate to whether an embryo is a genetically unique individual. 14

days was thought to be the last point at which natural trimming

might occur. It is thought that there might be two embryos, to

people if you like, to be created in the future. It was also thought that

14 days was also the first possible for point at which the embryo might

have any feeling. It is the point at which some think will be primitive

streak develops. It is part of the nervous system. We could be pretty

confident at the time that no embryo would feel any pain. Those were the

reasons given for drawing a compromise between the need for

scientific knowledge and the importance of respecting human life.

Those questions might look different with our modern biological

knowledge, and that is what we would like to discuss. How far with the

boundaries have to be pushed potentially in order to get the

knowledge the scientists are talking about being possible, looking at

miscarriages and why they happen? Babies can be Miss carried at any

point in pregnancy, so presumably, if that information were to be

gleaned, it wouldn't just be a case of allowing the embryos to continue

for a few more days. The first question is, what could we learn

from a small extension and is that worth having? Even if we were to

extend the time limit slightly, we would still have very strict

regulation in place. The approval on the Human Fertilisation and

Embryology Authority, which needs to look at the purpose of any research,

the researcher has to be appropriate, the place has to be

licensed, so we would still be keeping in place those important

questions about how valuable the knowledge might be. The first step

is asking whether or not at a few extra days would give us any extra

knowledge that is what having. We have new papers published yesterday

in the journal Nature that suggested as possible that the knowledge might

be worth having. What the Nuffield trust wants to do is to see there is

a case for saying that the 14 days is a line that is artificial.

Possibly, the knowledge is something that the public might think was one

pursuing, but we would need here from the public before recommending

a change in the law. OK. Thank you very much for joining us.

Do you find it difficult to get an appointment with your GP?

Or that the slot that you're given with them just isn't enough time?

Would you prefer a weekend appointment or be happy to talk

A report by the health think-tank the King's Fund suggests

the workload of GPs in England has increased dramatically over

They looked at 30 million patient contacts from 177 practices

between 2010/11 and 2014/15 and found that

the number of GP consultations increased by more than 15%

with a rise in both face-to-face and steep increase

At the same time, the number of GPs grew by almost 5%.

There were 35,000 GPs in 2010 and almost 37,000 in 2014.

And funding levels dipped from 8.3% of the overall NHS budget to 7.9%.

Let's hear from some GPs with experience of different general

Dr Sirfraz Hussain joins us from Manchester Medical Practice,

where they use innovative ways to consult with patients.

Dr Gaurav Gupta is a GP who's experienced working

Dr Susy Connell who works in an inner-city practice in Reading.

And Dr Bhaskar Bora is a GP in Greenhithe.

He can share his experience of working in a more rural location.

Thank you for joining us. Doctor Connell, describing typical day for

us. A typical day, I don't think most patients realise the length of

the appointment, the average is ten minutes. They know the start time.

They know that invariably they get called in late, and that is because

people have more than one problem to talk about, and often the problems

are complicated. Patients are becoming increasingly elderly and

they have increasing number 's health problems to be dealt with at

one time. Can you ever stick to minutes? How long do some

appointments run? They can run to double that, and it's very

difficult. I don't think people realise they have such a short time

with their GP. What do you do if you're watching the clock is back at

tenants, are you tempted to say, sorry, timer. If the patient says,

there are a number of things I want to talk to you by, one of the things

we can do is say, we only have a short time, what is the most

important thing today? If you attempt to start at the top of the

list and work through, you will never get through it. Are you able

to manage the ten minutes doing it that way? There are ways of doing

it, but you constantly feel like you're just not giving people enough

time. Doctor Gupta, your practice tried

out seven-day working, how did that go? Patients can get attention any

time using the art of our service. We tried to do something by having

local GP appointments over the weekend. In the first instance, it

was found not to be effective. More recently, at the end of 2015, we

tried again, only on Saturdays, but again it had to be stopped because

there was a lack of GPs available to do those shifts. What about it being

user-friendly for patients? Is there a demand from patients that you came

across? There was a study last year that looked at 80,000 patients, and

we found that demand for Sunday appointments was less than 1%. This

is a typical situation that we are finding in pilots across the

country, that a lot of them have been stopped because either a lack

of demand or a lack of GP workforce. Lack of demand - is that because

patients aren't aware it is being offered? Or that they simply don't

want it? It is difficult to say. It was put out in the newspapers, there

were posters in surgeries, leaflets were done. Demand was variable. On

Sunday, people don't want to come and see their GP for routine things.

Before we go to the other GPs, I want to bring in the voice of the

Department of Health. A spokesperson said, with an ageing population, we

know GPs are seeing more patients with complex health conditions than

ever before. That is why we are taking action to double the growth

rate in GPs through new incentives for training, recruitment, retention

and return to practice. We are committing an ex ?2.4 billion to

general practice and that will help reduce pressure on GPs and retain a

healthy workforce well into the future. Talking about other ways of

trying to reduce the pressure on trying to deal with patient demand,

let's go to Doctor Hussein. You are an inner-city GP, tell us what you

have done to deal with workloads? I started doing Skype consultations

about three years ago. The pressure for GPs is the big issue. The other

issue that we mustn't forget is patients and how we can best serve

them. Having them come to the surgery is not necessarily the best

way to serve them. Video consultations is one solution, but

it is not efficient in itself in terms of time. The new way of

thinking is that you can combine what a patient wants with the

opportunity to -- to connect with the GP using the computer

technologies. For example, the NHS is so far behind, if you had to go