:00:00. > :00:15.Good evening. Nurses who work in emergency care have told the Health
:00:16. > :00:18.Minister that staffing levels are so low that they've been left feeling
:00:19. > :00:21.battered, bruised and deflated. Just weeks after a major incident was
:00:22. > :00:24.called at the Royal Victoria Hospital a special summit meeting
:00:25. > :00:27.heard that the standard of care is so low that nurses are at risk of
:00:28. > :00:34.being de-registered. Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly
:00:35. > :00:40.reports. While the ministers saw today's
:00:41. > :00:49.summit as an opportunity to listen, some others likened it to him going
:00:50. > :00:54.into the lion's then. Now they had got the Minister's attention, the
:00:55. > :01:07.message was loud and clear. Staffing levels are so dire... The timing of
:01:08. > :01:10.the summit was perfect. Since January's major incident was called,
:01:11. > :01:17.the focus has been an staffing and the quality of care. Again, staff
:01:18. > :01:24.feeling they are taking on more and more specialised duties, like
:01:25. > :01:28.clerical duties and data entry, x-rays, and when we do that it means
:01:29. > :01:36.we are being taken away from caring for patients. During a closed
:01:37. > :01:41.session, nurses told the minister that the quality of care was in such
:01:42. > :01:48.jeopardy, they were at risk of being deregistered. Despite 18 months of
:01:49. > :01:53.crisis care headlines, Edwin Poots said until recently this message had
:01:54. > :01:55.not been getting through. Do you acknowledge that perhaps this
:01:56. > :02:01.listening exercise should have been done a long time ago? I would say
:02:02. > :02:08.that the message for whatever reason has not got through to ourselves.
:02:09. > :02:12.What are the solutions? According to local nurses who are being trained
:02:13. > :02:17.in England, it is time Northern Ireland recognises their potential.
:02:18. > :02:26.I am able to clinically assessed, treat and diagnose patients, I am an
:02:27. > :02:28.independent prescriber, so I can prescribe treatment and drugs and
:02:29. > :02:37.other care needed for a patient as they leave. If the emergency system
:02:38. > :02:41.is to go -- system is to undergo massive change, it is essential that
:02:42. > :02:47.alternative provisions in the community are in place. We have two
:02:48. > :02:58.invest in those circumstances before we start this process. -- we have
:02:59. > :03:04.to. Nurses are demanding action but they don't want to see a knee jerk
:03:05. > :03:08.reaction. Instead the response should be measured so that the
:03:09. > :03:12.system is sustainable in the long term.
:03:13. > :03:15.Yesterday we brought you the story of the two families devastated by
:03:16. > :03:20.the loss of their children from eating disorders. One viewer got in
:03:21. > :03:23.touch to say she's been suffering from bulimia for more than 30 years
:03:24. > :03:29.- and echoes the calls for better medical intervention. BBC Newsline's
:03:30. > :03:32.Tara Mills went to meet her. Glenda Gregs has lived with an
:03:33. > :03:43.eating disorder all of her adult life. Being overweight as a child
:03:44. > :03:50.caught the attention of bullies. The fear of being fat is phenomenal even
:03:51. > :03:56.now. Bulimia is much easier to keep it and in anorexia. Sufferers
:03:57. > :04:01.maintain a healthy weight but there was nothing healthy about the
:04:02. > :04:13.quantities of food involved. It is the whole cart, the whole loaf. Help
:04:14. > :04:20.is available today in a way it was not back then. The eating disorders
:04:21. > :04:25.Association runs classes to prevent problems starting before they begin.
:04:26. > :04:34.It is a very bad thing to criticise each other for your shape. Students
:04:35. > :04:41.admit there is a lot of pressure. We get judged on our appearance and
:04:42. > :04:44.everybody wants to look better. It is just about keeping a positive
:04:45. > :04:53.attitude about yourself but it is hard. Anorexia and bulimia are
:04:54. > :05:02.complicated conditions that need time. Glenda would encourage others
:05:03. > :05:05.to get help. A serving member of the Irish
:05:06. > :05:08.Defence Forces has appeared before a court in Letterkenny charged in
:05:09. > :05:11.connection with the discovery of a pipe bomb at an apartment in County
:05:12. > :05:15.Donegal. Mark Cassidy, whose address was given as Grianan Vale in
:05:16. > :05:17.Burnfoot, was one of two soldiers arrested yesterday. He's also
:05:18. > :05:24.accused of possessing 87 shotgun cartridges. A second soldier is
:05:25. > :05:27.still being questioned. Northern Ireland Electricity has
:05:28. > :05:30.warned thieves they are risking their own and other people's lives
:05:31. > :05:38.by chopping down electricity poles to get cables containing copper.
:05:39. > :05:41.It's happened 15 times in the last six months and some homes have been
:05:42. > :05:44.left without power. Our north-east reporter David Maxwell has the
:05:45. > :05:51.story. A large engineering operation swung
:05:52. > :05:55.into here yesterday after thieves broke down these electricity poles
:05:56. > :05:58.in the early hours. They cut them with bow saws and then removed the
:05:59. > :06:05.cable inside them containing valuable copper. The authorities say
:06:06. > :06:10.thieves are playing a risky game because they have no way of knowing
:06:11. > :06:19.if the cables are live. The thieves seem to be targeting morale areas.
:06:20. > :06:32.There has been a spate of similar thefts. I have to be careful
:06:33. > :06:36.because, having MS, I fall easily. My wife was out and I had to
:06:37. > :06:41.struggle in darkness, I could have had an accident. In order to make
:06:42. > :06:45.money the thieves will have to sell the cable to scrap metal dealers.
:06:46. > :06:55.Some believe there needs to be greater controls on the industry.
:06:56. > :07:02.If we had a law, scrap dealers would be legally obliged to back their
:07:03. > :07:07.purchases. The authorities say that if thieves continue this reckless
:07:08. > :07:10.activity lives could be lost. The Alliance Party MLA Anna Lo says
:07:11. > :07:13.people who racially abused her online are bullies and won't silence
:07:14. > :07:17.her. Ms Lo received threats when she said flags and paramilitary murals
:07:18. > :07:27.should be removed from the route of the Giro D'Italia cycle race which
:07:28. > :07:31.will be held here in May. They are not going to silence me,
:07:32. > :07:36.absolutely not. I have received threats in the past on many
:07:37. > :07:40.occasions and they are lees, really bullies, and they don't want anybody
:07:41. > :07:46.to say any thing sensible against them. -- they are bullies. It is
:07:47. > :07:50.important that we have started a debate about how to deal with these
:07:51. > :07:53.murals. Tyrone are the Power NI McKenna Cup
:07:54. > :07:56.champions following a seven-point victory over Cavan in tonight's
:07:57. > :08:00.rearranged final. Cavan held the lead for most of the first half, but
:08:01. > :08:04.Tyrone came back with this goal from Plunkett Kane leaving the scores
:08:05. > :08:11.level going into the break. Tyrone went on to dominate the second half,
:08:12. > :08:22.winning the game by 115 to 11 points.
:08:23. > :08:29.The cricket team have beaten the West Indies in Jamaica in a Twenty20
:08:30. > :08:38.title. It was the first of three matches between the countries.
:08:39. > :08:44.I am afraid it will be quite a wet night, with a heavy rain warning for
:08:45. > :08:49.parts of the West, Fermanagh and into parts of north Antrim. Towards
:08:50. > :08:54.Belfast and the south-east there will be some wet weather but the
:08:55. > :08:59.totals will not be as large. Possibly up to an inch in some
:09:00. > :09:03.areas, possibly leading to localised flooding, and some strong winds at
:09:04. > :09:07.times, especially on the east coast. The rain will be their first thing
:09:08. > :09:15.tomorrow but it will move away through the second half of the
:09:16. > :09:20.morning. Potential for flooding, particularly across parts of the
:09:21. > :09:24.West. A couple of inches falling over the West of Scotland tonight
:09:25. > :09:27.and an area of rain over many central and eastern parts of
:09:28. > :09:32.Britain, gradually moving away to the North Sea by lunchtime. Over
:09:33. > :09:38.parts of Ireland and western parts of Britain it writings up with some
:09:39. > :09:45.sunshine but a lot of showers moving in as well. -- brightens up. It will
:09:46. > :09:49.feel much colder compared to the last couple of days in Northern
:09:50. > :09:52.Ireland, with the showers feeling rather wintry over the hills. On
:09:53. > :09:56.Friday it will continue rather bright and blustery but some heavy
:09:57. > :10:01.showers moving through from time to time, quite cold in the wind. The
:10:02. > :10:04.next weather system moves in for the weekend, bringing some wet and windy
:10:05. > :10:08.weather again. You can keep up-to-date with the
:10:09. > :10:19.news online. In Can Wales bounce back
:10:20. > :10:25.against in-form France? Italy host Scotland,
:10:26. > :10:28.both looking for their first win.