:00:00. > :00:00.heavy rain is causing more misery as flood waters are on the rise.
:00:07. > :00:11.Good evening. The First Minister, Peter Robinson,
:00:12. > :00:14.has given his public backing to the Health Minister, Edwin Poots, in the
:00:15. > :00:18.wake of continuing problems at the Royal Victoria Hospital's Emergency
:00:19. > :00:21.Department. Last night's BBC Spotlight programme highlighted the
:00:22. > :00:27.cases of five patients who died in circumstances where delays may have
:00:28. > :00:30.been a contributory factor. This afternoon, Edwin Poots told the
:00:31. > :00:34.Health Committee at the Assembly that the coroner is now involved in
:00:35. > :00:39.four of the cases, but denied that there is any crisis. Tonight Mr
:00:40. > :00:46.Robinson says if more funding is needed to fix the problems at the
:00:47. > :00:50.Royal, he is keen to find it. I very much support Edwin. I recognise the
:00:51. > :00:54.very difficult task that he has to do, but I also see his determination
:00:55. > :01:02.to get to the bottom of these issues and I make this very clear. If Edwin
:01:03. > :01:08.comes to the Executive on the basis of advice from professionals from
:01:09. > :01:13.within his department and indicates the issue is about finance then my
:01:14. > :01:15.hand will go up to give him whatever support he requires because lives
:01:16. > :01:20.must not be put at risk. Earlier Edwin Poots addressed the
:01:21. > :01:23.Health Committee at Stormont after it emerged that three families have
:01:24. > :01:26.yet to be given the full details of the circumstances surrounding the
:01:27. > :01:33.death of their relatives after treatment at the Royal. A doctor who
:01:34. > :01:36.worked in the Emergency Department there has told BBC Newsline he more
:01:37. > :01:44.often managed chaos and not patients. Marie-Louise Connolly
:01:45. > :01:52.reports. Too few medics dealing with too many
:01:53. > :01:56.patients. Last night's Spotlight revealed pressures in the Royal's
:01:57. > :02:00.emergency department led to delays which may have been a contributory
:02:01. > :02:04.factor in the deaths of five patients. It revealed doctors on the
:02:05. > :02:08.frontline e-mailed and met with senior managers warning them of
:02:09. > :02:13.problems over a year ago, but the first time one of those doctors has
:02:14. > :02:15.broken his silence to explain why. On many a night shift or weekend
:02:16. > :02:19.shift that I worked in that department, I did not give a
:02:20. > :02:28.standard of care that I felt was appropriate to patients because our
:02:29. > :02:33.sole focus was managing the chaos. Over the past 18 months, questions
:02:34. > :02:35.about the safety of emergency departments from doctors,
:02:36. > :02:41.politicians, the public and the media have often by dismissed as
:02:42. > :02:46.hype. The Health Minister gave this assurance. Northern Ireland is a
:02:47. > :02:51.safe place to get emergency medicine. It is a safe place to have
:02:52. > :02:56.medical care. So what is the true picture? While deaths in hospitals
:02:57. > :03:02.must be expected, what these latest five cases highlight is whether the
:03:03. > :03:06.environment is as safe as it should be. Dr Millar says he believes the
:03:07. > :03:11.figure could be higher. The cases that are being referred to, I think,
:03:12. > :03:17.must only represent the tip of the iceberg because these are cases that
:03:18. > :03:20.have been flagged up under a serious adverse incidents procedure. There
:03:21. > :03:27.are a lot of people who have come into hospital and have died or have
:03:28. > :03:34.come to harm where this procedure has not been flagged up.
:03:35. > :03:38.Feelings were running high at the Health Committee were under
:03:39. > :03:43.pressure, the Health Minister reiterated there is no crisis. I
:03:44. > :03:50.accept that the treatment and care that those five people have may well
:03:51. > :03:53.have fallen short and we will have an appropriate investigation of that
:03:54. > :04:00.matter. Five people dying in hospital of 80,000 being treated is
:04:01. > :04:03.not a crisis. Some disagreed and questioned the treatment of patients
:04:04. > :04:09.and their families. So there are people out there who don't know
:04:10. > :04:16.whether the waiting time contributed to their deaths? And my
:04:17. > :04:21.understanding is that some of those cases were particular conditions
:04:22. > :04:25.that needed treated urgently so the waiting time was crucial. It is also
:04:26. > :04:33.been confirmed that the coroner is dealing with four of the five cases.
:04:34. > :04:36.An indication of how seriously the Belfast Health Trust is treating the
:04:37. > :04:39.issue. The predicted high winds across
:04:40. > :04:42.Northern Ireland have led to traffic disruption with roads damaged, trees
:04:43. > :04:45.down and delays to flights and ferries. At one point 1,500
:04:46. > :04:50.customers were without electricity in Newry with NIE warning of further
:04:51. > :04:56.possible damage to the network. Will Leitch reports. The cycle of storm
:04:57. > :05:04.and tide this winter makes its mark again. This time partial road
:05:05. > :05:08.collapse on the Shore Road a route already under going repairs. Buses
:05:09. > :05:14.diverted, motorists asked to think of another route and big delays.
:05:15. > :05:21.That's creating a serious situation because that road is used by a lot
:05:22. > :05:25.of heavy vehicles and we used a lot of by-roads there. I wouldn't advice
:05:26. > :05:30.anyone to take alternative routes because there is no way across.
:05:31. > :05:35.There needs to be a survey carried out along this seawall to see what
:05:36. > :05:38.collapsed last year too. With rising tides and climate change and more
:05:39. > :05:42.severe weather, a red warning tonight, we need to make sure this
:05:43. > :05:48.is fit tor purpose. Many places in the north-west had
:05:49. > :05:50.been affected by a heavy snow fall overnight and some schools were
:05:51. > :05:56.forced to close. The road services said it responded quickly deploying
:05:57. > :06:09.extra gritters. The worst of the winds so far hit the south-west of
:06:10. > :06:19.Ireland with gusts of 100mph. One startled onlooker captured the last
:06:20. > :06:29.few seconds of the roof of Limerick club. At one stage a quarter of a
:06:30. > :06:38.million homes were without power. Tonight, Stenaline's ferry has been
:06:39. > :06:40.cancelled. NIE has been restoring power to the homes in the Newry
:06:41. > :06:47.area. To save grammar schools in the
:06:48. > :06:50.Craigavon area say they have won their battle with the Southern
:06:51. > :06:53.Education and Library Board. Last summer, the board voted in favour of
:06:54. > :06:57.merging the two grammar schools with the high schools, making them all
:06:58. > :06:59.ability. Protesters said that would dismantle the grammar school system
:07:00. > :07:05.and destroy the popular Dickson plan. The board now plans to appoint
:07:06. > :07:11.an independent person to try to find another solution.
:07:12. > :07:14.The Education committee at the Assembly has heard assurances that
:07:15. > :07:18.not a single school will lose money in a budget shake-up. The minister,
:07:19. > :07:21.John O'Dowd, has added extra money after widespread complaints from
:07:22. > :07:28.parents and teachers about the Common Funding Scheme. Some members
:07:29. > :07:33.expressed concern that the move was only a stay of execution and schools
:07:34. > :07:36.may suffer in the future. But Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheean said he would
:07:37. > :07:45.also complain if the assurances turned out to be untrue.
:07:46. > :07:50.I say this to you now, if it turns out that there are losers, I will
:07:51. > :07:53.stand beside you in front of the cameras and criticise the minister
:07:54. > :07:58.because if he is telling lies, I will get up and criticise him.
:07:59. > :08:01.Tomorrow on BBC Newsline, we'll have the first of two special reports on
:08:02. > :08:06.how industry is collaborating with schools to better prepare pupils for
:08:07. > :08:10.the workplace. First up is the world of IT and then on Friday the focus
:08:11. > :08:14.will turn to the engineering sector. That's on BBC Newsline at 6.30pm.
:08:15. > :08:19.Now to that all-important weather forecast. Here's Cecilia Daly with
:08:20. > :08:22.the details. Good evening. Well, winds will continue to be a feature
:08:23. > :08:29.of our weather tonight. Over the next couple of hours in particular,
:08:30. > :08:37.winds may gust to 80mph in some areas especially exposed parts of
:08:38. > :08:45.the south and west. An amber warning has in place. By morning, the winds
:08:46. > :08:50.will have eased. There will be a mix of rain and snow showers moving
:08:51. > :08:57.through tonight. There will be lying snow in places and combined with low
:08:58. > :09:02.temperatures exec expect ice -- we can expect ice to be a problem.
:09:03. > :09:06.Thursday is looking a quieter day. To begin with, it is cold and icy.
:09:07. > :09:11.There will be rain and snow showers moving through with lying snow. Be
:09:12. > :09:15.prepared for that when you are travelling tomorrow morning. A much
:09:16. > :09:18.quieter and less windy day across the Republic of Ireland tomorrow and
:09:19. > :09:22.winds will be lighter across Britain. A lot of dry weather too
:09:23. > :09:25.with sunshine. Icy to begin with and snow showers will continue to affect
:09:26. > :09:29.parts of Scotland and Northern England. It will feel cold tomorrow
:09:30. > :09:32.in Northern Ireland. It will be blustery, but the winds won't be
:09:33. > :09:36.damaging and there will be some rain and snow showers moving through, but
:09:37. > :09:41.sunshine with temperatures of five or six Celsius. There is drier
:09:42. > :09:44.weather to begin with on Friday. It doesn't last long. More rain with
:09:45. > :09:48.the risk of flooding and strong winds will be moving up as the next
:09:49. > :09:51.storm moves in on Friday night and into Saturday.
:09:52. > :09:54.In tonight's difficult weather conditions Ireland drew 1-1 with
:09:55. > :09:59.England in the under 21 hockey tournament at New Mossley. That's it
:10:00. > :10:03.for now. Good night.