08/02/2018 BBC News at Six

Hospital A&Es in England

record their worst ever

waiting times last month

since records began.

A thousand patients waited

12 hours on trolleys

without being cared for by any

medical staff at all.

There is a breaking point,

we wonder how long our hard work

and goodwill and our enthusiasm

and care and professional attitude,

how that can be sustained over

a long period of time.

Making things worse, and report

finds that social care is being

undermined through a lack of

government funding.

We're with doctors and paramedics

in East London and at a care home

in Sheffield to hear

from patients and staff.

Also tonight...

Businesses are warned

an interest rate rise could come

soon though it's kept at nought

point five per cent today.

-- 0.5%.

MPs could be expelled under

new proposals to deal

with harassment and

bullying at Westminster.

Shocking new evidence of the plastic

ensnaring animals and polluting

the water in the Arctic.

And running for Grenfell,

the firefighters who were at

the tower that night doing

the Marathon in full kit

to help the survivors.

Blow for the British team on the eve

of the Winter Olympics, snowboarder

Katie Ormerod is out after breaking

her heel.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

New figures have revealed January

to be one of the toughest months

ever for A&E departments in England.

And hospital-only A&Es

recorded their worst ever figures

since records began.

Trolley waits continue

to be a big problem too,

with 1,000 patients waiting more

than 12 hours to be cared for

by

any

medical staff at all.

The four-hour wait target

for patients was missed,

for the 30th month in a row

with over 85% of patients

seen within that time,

slightly better than December.

The target is 95%.

This comes despite

non-essential treatments being

cancelled to relieve the pressure.

Our Health Editor Hugh Pym reports.

The NHS flat out with staff working

at a frantic pace just to keep

services running, that is the

picture which emerges from the

figures for January in England, a

service overstretched and under

intense strain.

Business in Leeds says that even

though thousands of routine

operations were postponed to help

the system, the pressure was

intolerable. -- this nurse.

It is

not sustainable, it is how long we

can maintain this professionalism

and keenness and caring attitude, it

will not go but it is wondering...

People will crack.

OK, let's see, we

will go right on to Cambridge Road

in a column at.

In some areas,

schemes are trying to curb the

numbers going to hospital, here, a

senior ANC consultant is out on the

road with a paramedic, taking

hospital care to patients at home.

-- A&E. It is a partnership between

London air ambulance, London

Ambulance Service, and Barts Health.

They see an elderly man with

dementia who has been in and out of

hospital. They insure that he is

safe to be left at home with his

carer.

We carry with us a laptop,

giving direct access to the same...

Job!

That we have... Yes, we have

got another job.

That job is to meet

up with another ambulance crew,

which has picked up a woman with

chest pains, Tony's experience as a

consultant means he can reassure the

patient that she is safe to stay at

home.

Presumably this is a relief by

Jim at yes, I don't want to go to

hospital, four hours.

In the three

and a half months since relaunched

as a seven day a week service, more

than 300 patients have been treated

at home, who otherwise would have

needed ambulances to take them to

A&E and some of them would otherwise

have been admitted to hospital, so

beds have been freed up for others.

Zombies looking after you well, nice

and smooth.

Liza is in a residential

home, carers were concerned about

her condition. -- this team have

been able to carry out a range of

checks and treatments to help as

they where she is.

We have gone to

patients and put a smile on their

face and the face of their families,

everyone has come away making

everybody see that the NHS has done

the best job they can for them.

But

they recognise the huge pressure

every day across the NHS.

There is a

lot of frustration, at the end of

the day we want to be able to say

that we have done the best for our

patients and when the system makes

that difficult that can be very

frustrating, working in an overly

congested system sometimes leaves us

feeling that recently cannot deliver

the best possible care for

patientss.

They are trying to

deliver that level of care but as

for most NHS staff, that has been

harder than ever this winter.

One of the problems contributing

to the difficulties in the NHS

is patients remaining in hospital

because suitable care for them

outside isn't available.

And a lack of government planning

and funding is undermining social

care at a time when demand

for it is increasing,

that's the verdict of

the National Audit Office.

It says low pay means adult care

services in England can no

longer fill key posts.

Here's our social affairs

correspondent, Alison Holt.

It is a busy lunchtime at Northfield

nursing home in Sheffield, demanding

work for the care staff... Who are

looking after residents who may have

dementia, problems walking or a

range of chronic health conditions.

Joyce, good afternoon, only me,

sorry to bother you.

Today's

National Audit Office report

outlines just how difficult it is to

find people to do this vital work,

but for residents like 97-year-old

Joyce, the staff make all the

difference.

It is absolutely

essential, if, you know, I see the

same phase coming in in the morning

and thinking, it is a friend.

The

nursing lead here, Tammy Ardon, says

that recruiting staff is a real

issue for them. -- Tammy Ardron.

It

is not as attractive as the NHS,

where you have your salary packages,

enhanced rates of pay, unsociable

hours... And I think that it is hard

work, it is busy and constant, you

have to be on the ball 24 hours a

day.

Residential and nursing homes

are dealing with an increasing

number of people with really complex

needs and they need the skilled

staff to deliver that care. And that

is why this report says the

government must have a strategy for

a sector struggling with low pay and

low prestige.

There was a staff turnover in

2016/17 of nearly 28%, councils

spent 5.3% less than five years

before the despite increasing

demand. The report is clear that

councils struggling with government

cuts are not covering the real costs

of care, according to the boss of

this home, some providers have had

no choice but to close or risk the

quality of what they are doing.

The

only way that these operators can

continue, is to cut the standard,

because fundamentally, the funding

issue is impacting on the resources,

the workers, and the delivery of

care.

A survey of local authorities

in England published today says that

nearly all planned to put up council

tax to try to cope with growing

demands for adult and children's

social care. 80% still fear for

their financial stability. The

government insists it is addressing

these pressures.

That is why they

are getting more resources, real

terms increase over two years,

social care in particular, adult

social care in the budget, over £2

billion allocated yesterday in

Parliament I announced an additional

£150 million. This may relieve

short-term pressures but in the long

term I accept that we need to change

the approach to social care.

The

Department for health and social

care says it will publish a strategy

for the health and care work short

-- shortly.

Interest rates have

been held at 0.5%

but there's speculation the next

rise could come as soon as May.

The Bank of England has signalled

that rates could rise earlier

and faster than it thought three

months ago with the global economy

expanding at its fastest

pace in seven years.

Here's our economics

editor Kamal Ahmed.

Stitching together a better story on

the economy, orders for this firm in

Manchester are booming, it is a

story repeated around the country,

leaving two -- leading to a positive

assessment from the Bank of England.

Last 12 months, growing by 20%.

Europe has been much stronger than

that and so we have more than

doubled what the growth rate has

been in the UK. I am cautiously

optimistic about the future, we are

making major investments over the

next 12 months.

For the governor,

simple reason for the better news.

90% of the world economy is growing

above trend, the global expansion is

increasingly being driven by

investment. UK net trade is

benefiting from this robust global

demand, and the past depreciation of

sterling.

The economy is heating up,

the threat of interest rate rises to

control inflation has increased.

Governor, this is a warning on

interest rates, that they are likely

to come earlier, and then to rise

more rapidly than you originally

expected.

It will be necessary,

likely to be necessary, to raise

interest rates to a limited degree,

in a gradual process...

The Bank of

England has upgraded growth, this

year it is expected to rise from

1.5% to 1.7%. Next year, better news

as well, growth is up from 1.7%, to

1.5% to 1.7%. Next year, better news

as well, growth is up from 1.7%, to

1.8%. But prices will continue to

rise, deflation is now expected to

be at 2.9% by the end of the year,

with wages chasing to keep

the Bank of England expects that

wages will accelerate, unemployment

falling further, strong demand for

labour, and fewer people entering

the labour force. Together that

means higher wages. It will not

necessarily feed into stronger

consumption, households are wheezed,

buys still high inflation. --

households are squeezed.

Better news

on the economy from the Bank of

England but that news laced with a

very significant signal on interest

rates, if you have a mortgage, if

you borrow money, be ready for

higher bills, and if you are a

saver, at last, get ready for better

returns. The bank did warn again

about Brexit risk but for Britain,

exporting nation, good news for the

rest of the world, keeping the

economy buoyant.

The Japanese ambassador has warned

that Japanese firms in the UK

are worried about access

to the EU after Brexit.

After joining the prime minister

in Downing Street for a meeting

with Japanese business leaders,

he warned no firm would be able

to continue to operate

here if they're not profitable

because of Brexit trade barriers.

Our business editor

Simon Jack

is here, in a way it's a statement

of the obvious but it raises

the stakes too for

the prime minister.

Back in September 20 16, three

months after the referendum result,

a very detailed 15 page document was

outlined by the Japanese government,

hopes, fears, concerns

over

Brexit, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, they

have been enormous investors. --

back in September, 2016. They still

make half of all the cars here,

mostly for export. They are worried

if there will be Customs hold-up,

tariffs, regulatory barriers, they

want to see Customs unchained, all

of these things still not resolved.

The ambassador put it best: if

profits are hit, investment will be

hit, he called it a high-stakes

game. Talking of high-stakes, sharp

words today from David Davis, Brexit

secretary for Brussels, they

published a document saying they

want to find a way of punishing the

UK if we try to bend the rules

during a transition period, said it

was a mistake to make document

public. They said the language was

discourteous. -- they said it was a

mistake to make that document

public.

MPs could lose their seats or be

expelled under new plans

to tackle bullying and sexual

harassment at Westminster.

A new code of conduct is to be

set up for all those

working in there, along

with an independent

complaints procedure.

Alex Forsyth reports.

This report from Alex Forsyth

contains some flash photography.

In the bars and backrooms

of Westminster, claims of bullying,

intimidation, sexual harassment,

allegations that

prompted investigations

and some resignations.

And reflection on how to change

a culture that allowed abuse.

The Leader of the House,

Lord President of the Council.

Today, MPs from all parties

unveiled their plans.

It is a right, not a privilege,

to be treated with dignity

and respect at work,

and this ambitious report is a major

step towards a safer and more

professional environment.

Part of the problem had been those

working here are often

employed directly by MPs,

with only political

parties to complain to.

So this report proposes a new code

of behaviour for everyone working

in Parliament and a new complaints

and investigation system,

independent of political parties.

And there will be sanctions

for inappropriate behaviour,

anything from an apology

to a possible suspension.

In the worst cases,

MPs could face a public vote to keep

seats,

not under new rules

but using existing ones.

There are some questions

about the fact complaints will be

kept anonymous but broadly,

the report has been welcomed,

beyond the detail, some are worried

this alone will not bring

about the change in culture

that is really needed.

Damian Green was one of those

accused of inappropriate behaviour

which he has always denied.

His accuser says that today's

report is a welcome step

but a bigger shift is needed.

You cannot make people

take things seriously

unless there is a serious

culture change.

That concerns me in parliament.

There is still a lot of MPs

who don't understand why behaviour

they have been getting

away

with for 20 years, people

are suddenly noticing

and complaining about,

that is the problem.

The focus on this shadowy

issue might have started

the process of change,

but most recognise there

is still a long way to go.

Our top story this evening:

Hospital A&Es in England

record their worst ever

waiting times last month,

since records began.

And still to come...

The latest superhero film

from Marvel with an all-black cast

of actors playing the heroes.

Coming up on Sportsday in the next

15 minutes on BBC News...

Six changes in the Six Nations

for Scotland, as they look

for a change of fortune

against France following their

opening day thrashing by Wales.

There is shocking new evidence

of plastic rubbish contaminating

even the remotest ends of the earth

- the pristine wilderness

of the Arctic.

Animals are becoming

ensnared in plastic waste,

while scientists say there are far

more plastic particles in one litre

of sea ice than in open water.

They say they've found plastic

pollution almost everywhere they've

looked in the Arctic Ocean.

Our environment analyst

Roger Harrabin has been to Tromso

in the Norwegian Arctic

to see for himself.

Plastic pollution has reached

the furthest corners of the planet.

Arctic sea ice is created

when sea freezes.

It looks pristine but it

definitely is not.

In fact, ice cores show sea ice

contains more fragments of plastic

per square metre than anywhere else

in the open ocean.

It's because sea ice freezes

from the top and that's exactly

where the plastic bits are floating.

One litre of melted sea ice

contained 234 plastic

fragments like these.

We have a situation in the world

now that there is nowhere that's

so far away that it's not affected

by plastic waste.

There's plastic on the beaches too.

This local conservationist is trying

forlornly to clear it up.

Here's what plastic does.

This reindeer's antlers were trapped

by a discarded fishing net, it died.

This Arctic tern met

its death by starvation.

This polar bear was tangled

in another fishing net.

We try to sell this as Arctic

and pristine and untouched,

and it looks that way on pictures,

but once you get here and you start

to walk along the coastline,

you get a completely other picture.

The plastic is here

with a vengeance.

I have collected this waste

in just a few seconds.

Some of the fragments

may come from Norway,

some clearly don't -

like this elaborate bottle

for instance, or this

butter tub from Spain.

Scientists say fishing

crews have caused most

of the plastic pollution here.

We have for years, for decades,

been collecting all the garbage

that we produce on-board into big

waste bags, big bags,

then compressing it

and taking it to shore.

So where this comes

from today, I'm not sure of.

The fishermen say they have

stopped dumping lengths

of rope into the ocean,

but look at that.

It's clearly been deliberately cut.

So sad.

Arctic scientists don't know yet

whether the plastic tide

will affect local fish stocks,

but it is another human threat

to a fragile environment,

already being transformed

by man-made climate change.

Roger Harribgan, BBC News,

in the Norwegian Arctic.

A series of failures led

to the death of a man

with Down's syndrome,

according to an inquest.

Richard Handley had suffered extreme

constipation and had ten kilos

of matter removed from his bowels

before he died in

Ipswich Hospital in 2012.

Michael Buchanan reports.

Richard Handley had a lifelong but

wholly manageable problem with

constipation. He also had down

syndrome and learning disabilities,

and that, say his family, is why

this man is dead.

I think Richard

was treated differently because he

had a learning disability. I think,

as his sister and someone who

doesn't have a learning disability,

if I died suddenly at the age of 33,

I think the reaction would be

different.

Today a coroner found

multiple failures in Richard 's

treatment. When his home in

Lowestoft changed from being

residential care to support of

living in 2010, his care

deteriorated. Gone was the healthy

diet, who was allowed to eat what he

liked and monitoring of his bowel

movements was reduced.

I think the

main thing was the bowl monitoring,

I don't see how anybody could

justify getting rid of that for

somebody with a chronic bowel

problem.

Large quantities of faeces

built up in Richard's bowels. His

stomach was described as being as

large as a full-term pregnancy

woman. Richard was taken to Ipswich

Hospital where they removed more

than a stone and a half of material.

Write to the very end, the evening

when things started to go bad, until

that point nobody thought his life

was in danger.

But the blockage

wasn't properly cleared. Bowel got

into his lungs and he choked on his

vomit. Today the hospital apologised

for what the coroner described as a

gross failure to provide proper

care. It's a waste of life, isn't

it?

Absolutely.

I don't understand

how the untimely death of a

33-year-old didn't raise serious

alarm bells.

The coroner's

conclusion reinforces what the

family has always known - Richard

Handley should still be alive.

The firefighters at Paddington Red

Watch were some of the first

on the scene at the Grenfell Tower

fire last June, working

through the night to save as many

people as they could.

Now nine of them have decided to run

the London marathon in full

firefighter's kit and breathing

apparatus sets to raise money

for the victims and their families.

Sophie Raworth, a keen marathon

runner herself, went to meet them.

How is that possible?

At that time of night,

the roads were clear so literally

two to three minutes before

we got there.

We could see it was well alight

and we, yeah, just tried to get

people out basically.

It was something that,

in my 23 years of service,

I hadn't seen before,

but we had a job to do.

71 people died that night.

The fire crews, who repeatedly

queued up to go into the burning

tower, managed to save the lives

of 65 others.

It was quite chaotic.

We were there...

13 hours, I think, overall.

13, 14 hours.

On a fire, even on a big job,

you can get relieved, like,

four or five hours later.

Another crew will come and relieve

you from another station,

but we didn't want to go anyway.

We wouldn't have left anyway.

The enormity of it only hit us,

well hit me personally after,

when I was sort of...

a few days later when I'd

seen what had happened.

I didn't come to terms with it,

I suppose just in shock initially.

It's affected everyone.

I mean, it's a major disaster

in the centre of London in 2017.

It's going to affect

a large amount of people.

You wouldn't be human if it didn't

affect you in anyway.

What kind of response did you get

from the community afterwards?

It was quite overwhelming,

the thanks and applause you got

was quite something else really.

So the fact that they did appreciate

us was sort of difficult to deal

with because we don't really

get that day-to-day.

What happened that night affected

them all so deeply that nine

of the Grenfell Tower firefighters

are now training to run

the London Marathon to raise money

for the victims and their families,

and they are not making it

easy for themselves.

So you're going to run

26.2 miles with this on.

Oh, my God!

How much does this weigh?

30.

30 kilos?

That's like carrying a small kid.

Not even a small kid,

that's like carrying

a nine-year-old child on your back.

It all means extra training,

running around the fire

station in between shifts.

The money raised will be split

between three charities,

one to help firefighters and two

others at the heart

of the Grenfell community.

We are not doing it for any

sort of personal gain.

We just want the story to be

about them, and try and raise

as much money for them as possible.

Firefighter Martin Gillam finishing

that report from Sophie Raworth.

The latest superhero film

from Marvel has its European

premiere tonight in London,

but what makes it different

is its all-black cast

of actors playing the heroes.

The film's created a huge buzz

on social media with many

fans using the hashtag

'What Black Panther Means to Me'

to highlight its significance

for black audiences.

Lizo Mzimba reports.

The free cinema trip would have been

welcome enough of these American

schoolchildren, their sheer joy is

because the movie is Black Panther.

Such is the film's significance,

people around the world are crowd

sourcing money to give black

children in particular the

opportunity to watch it on the big

screen. People like this actress

from London, she has so far raised

around £4000.

I think it is just a

film you don't really see, you don't

see black superheroes in the big

blockbuster. The positive

representation is good for people

growing up in this area but I think

all over the world.

Black Panther is

being seen as a cultural milestone.

A predominantly black cast leading a

big budget blockbuster.

People making it a reality for kids

who maybe wouldn't be able to go to

the movies and experience it, I

think it is beautiful, man.

It's the

kind of film many have been waiting

decades for Hollywood to make, not

only a host of black role models but

also strong female characters at its

heart.

Black Panther was a moment

and hopefully it is one... It will

obviously exist for long but this

particular moment we want the

momentum to keep going. I don't

think it is Black Panther's

responsibility to change the world.

How important was it for you making

sure this was primarily a piece of

entertainment, even with this huge

amount of social responsibility that

was inevitably going to come into

the equation?

That is what it is. It

is not a political lecture, you know

what I mean? It's a movie. It has

got to work as that.

And that is a

movie expected to have one of the

biggest openings ever, and more

importantly, show others in the film

world how lucrative diversity on

screen can be in the 21st-century.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Louise Lear.

It was cold and frosty this morning

across England and Wales but that

will change overnight tonight

because this weather front that is

moving in as we speak will introduce

cloud and rain. We haven't seen that

much rain across central and

southern England this week and it

will turn quite cold behind it. If

you have been caught underneath the

cloud and rain today, you have seen

sites like this across parts of the

Lake District. In the last few

hours, the rain is pepping up and we

have sharper showers, turning wintry

in the far north of Scotland. Signs

of what is to come. The rain will

turn heavy as it moves south and

east tonight, behind it we can

already see showers of wintry nature

in the far north and west. But

temperatures further south will hold

up above freezing, hence the reason

for the green, but further north

with the blues, we could see minus

four which could lead to icy

stretches, particularly when you

encounter those snow showers so

that's worth bearing in mind first

thing tomorrow. A similar story for

Northern Ireland and northern

England. For England and Wales the

wintry mix of sleet and snow that

will drift into Lincolnshire and

perhaps the south-east of England

during the lunch hour tomorrow.

Behind it, brighter conditions,

fresher and colder for all of us.

Any showers in the north-west will

be snow at lower levels. A cold

nights so all change for England and

Wales as we head into Saturday

morning, but this weather front will

bring snow to Scotland for the early

hours of Saturday morning. Behind

it, it is rain and it will bring a

miserable day for much of England

and Wales on Saturday. A wet affair,

windy with it. Temperatures are

degree also higher. A reminder of

our main story, hospital A&Es record

their worst waiting times last month

since