:00:00. > :00:00.let-up. Thank you. That is all from the BBC News at Six. Goodbye. Now
:00:00. > :00:07.Welcome to BBC Points West with David Garmston and Alex Lovell. Our
:00:08. > :00:11.main story tonight: the hospitals preparing for a tough winter.
:00:12. > :00:15.Hundreds of extra staff are taken off as the wards gear up for the
:00:16. > :00:19.cold weather, but will it be enough? We've got the right type of
:00:20. > :00:24.facilities and equipment to care for the demand that is being placed on
:00:25. > :00:27.A services in Somerset. But while they're getting ready one
:00:28. > :00:40.of the West's newest hospitals has been slammed for being dirty.
:00:41. > :00:45.Also in tonight's programme: chaos on the flyover ` first it swung open
:00:46. > :00:50.and wouldn't close ` now its closed but wont swing open.
:00:51. > :00:52.A bravery award for this 92`year`old who dragged a man from a
:00:53. > :00:56.smoke`filled building using her shopping trolley for support.
:00:57. > :01:00.I don't believe in celebrating it. It's something I wanted to do and I
:01:01. > :01:07.did it and it's over and forgotten. And I'd do it again tomorrow.
:01:08. > :01:08.And The Bristol football coach taking the top job in English
:01:09. > :01:18.women's football. Good evening.
:01:19. > :01:21.Hospitals across the West say they've recruited hundreds of extra
:01:22. > :01:24.staff and invested thousands of pounds to cope with the demands of
:01:25. > :01:28.winter. Doctors and nurses across the West have spent months planning
:01:29. > :01:32.how to handle the increased numbers of patients during the coldest part
:01:33. > :01:34.of the year. Many have also taken on new staff to cope.
:01:35. > :01:37.At the Great Western Hospital in Swindon there's now 82 more nurses
:01:38. > :01:41.and midwives than a year ago. Gloucester and Cheltenham have 00
:01:42. > :01:44.extra staff and 65 extra beds. And tomorrow Somerset's biggest hospital
:01:45. > :01:45.will open a ?3 million extension to its A department to help treat
:01:46. > :02:01.more emergencies. More people die in the winter than
:02:02. > :02:06.in the summer. In fact, in the South West, they were 3100 excess deaths
:02:07. > :02:13.last winter. That is why hospitals across the West are gearing up for
:02:14. > :02:17.these winter pressures. This patient was rushed in for
:02:18. > :02:21.emergency treatment because of abnormal heart rhythms. His
:02:22. > :02:25.condition is very serious so he is being seen quickly. Most patients in
:02:26. > :02:31.Taunton have to wait, however. That is because there are not enough
:02:32. > :02:35.doctors. This man in charge of the department is lobbying the
:02:36. > :02:39.Government to improve the situation. He is delighted that the Department
:02:40. > :02:46.of Health have agreed to recruit an extra 100 doctors for emergency
:02:47. > :02:49.medicine in England each year. Your Mac this will start to turn the
:02:50. > :02:53.whole ship around. Once we start to increase
:02:54. > :02:57.recruitment and reduce the ratio of patients to doctors we then allowed
:02:58. > :03:05.doctors to practice medicine to the very best of their ability.
:03:06. > :03:11.But it is not just about more doctors, it is about freeing up
:03:12. > :03:15.beds. The real blockage in the emergency medicine system is to do
:03:16. > :03:19.with getting patients out of here into general wards. At the moment,
:03:20. > :03:24.around 85% of hospital beds are full. The College of emergency
:03:25. > :03:30.medicine would like to see that figure more like 90%. That is why
:03:31. > :03:34.the hospital's bosses trying to push through weekend working for doctors
:03:35. > :03:40.and nurses in order to free up more beds. That is expensive, to get
:03:41. > :03:46.doctors in at weekends. You don t have extra money for that. How will
:03:47. > :03:50.you achieve that? We will look at how to get people working more
:03:51. > :03:54.flexibly, so there are perhaps other times in the week when we don't need
:03:55. > :04:00.quite so many doctors and therapists so we can spread them out. We will
:04:01. > :04:04.also be working with our commissioners to look at what is the
:04:05. > :04:10.cost over and above that and how do we afford that as a health system.
:04:11. > :04:15.At the weekend, 11 ambulances were queueing outside Thompson A
:04:16. > :04:19.because there weren't enough beds. It may be difficult to achieve
:04:20. > :04:31.this, but the hospital believes that radical change is possible.
:04:32. > :04:33.Despite taking on more staff, today the health inspector criticised
:04:34. > :04:36.Swindon's Great Western Hospital for having too few nurses and being
:04:37. > :04:39.dirty. However, the Care Quality Commission did say it's meeting
:04:40. > :04:46.standards when it come to the care, welfare and respect of its patients.
:04:47. > :04:48.In a report out today, the Care Quality Commission says cleanliness
:04:49. > :04:52.and staffing levels at this hospital are not up to scratch. They visited
:04:53. > :04:55.after concerns were raised that standards were not being met.
:04:56. > :04:57.Inspectors said on some wards they found "unacceptable levels of dust
:04:58. > :05:00.underneath patient beds" alongside items like tissues and protective
:05:01. > :05:03.gloves. Some commodes were stained underneath, which suggested to them
:05:04. > :05:05.that cleaning had not been thorough. This came as a surprise to the
:05:06. > :05:21.hospital's chief nurse. I would have expected that we would
:05:22. > :05:25.know for ourselves if we had dirty words order to toilets. The biggest
:05:26. > :05:32.disappointment is that we did not know that.
:05:33. > :05:35.Today, Corillion, the company contracted to clean the hospital,
:05:36. > :05:40.said it's already taken steps to improve standards. The CQC also said
:05:41. > :05:44.on some wards there were not enough nurses to provide the care and
:05:45. > :05:47.support patients needed. The hospital blames a national shortage
:05:48. > :05:55.and said that's why it began recruiting in April. I think there
:05:56. > :06:05.has been a lot of media interest over the last while in hospitals and
:06:06. > :06:08.so I do not think that this hospital is unique in having some issues with
:06:09. > :06:11.regard to staffing. Despite the criticisms, the health
:06:12. > :06:15.regulator was also keen to point out that most patients were given the
:06:16. > :06:17.care they needed and were treated with respect. The way staff
:06:18. > :06:21.communicated with patients was also praised. The hospital says it's
:06:22. > :06:24.already put a plan in place to address all the shortcomings. It
:06:25. > :06:33.must submit it to the CQC by Christmas Eve.
:06:34. > :06:38.Joining us now is our Health Correspondent, Matthew Hill. Most
:06:39. > :06:46.people will be quite concerned that the hospital seems dirty. The
:06:47. > :06:50.hospital does not imply the cleaners, that is a separate
:06:51. > :06:56.company. They have a contract for the next 20 years. Relations have
:06:57. > :06:59.not been good with the workers. A year ago there was a long`term
:07:00. > :07:05.dispute over winter working. Hopefully that has sorted now. But
:07:06. > :07:13.it is surprising in this day and age, particularly any modern
:07:14. > :07:16.hospital. How well prepared are our hospitals
:07:17. > :07:40.to cope this winter, particularly A? Much more than in the past
:07:41. > :07:53.Indian doctors are going to be allowed to come in which should
:07:54. > :07:57.help. Thank you very much. If you want to take a look at how
:07:58. > :08:01.well the hospital in your area is doing, then there's a new website
:08:02. > :08:05.you can go on. If you want to take a look at how well the hospital in
:08:06. > :08:07.your area is doing, then there's a new website where you can get
:08:08. > :08:10.information. Go to england.nhs.uk/statistics and click
:08:11. > :08:14.on "winter pressures daily situations reports".
:08:15. > :08:17.If you're worried about the winter weather, then it's not a good night
:08:18. > :08:19.to be travelling, as the Highways Agency is predicting high winds and
:08:20. > :08:23.heavy rain. It could disrupt roads and bridges
:08:24. > :08:33.into the night. Sally Challoner is alongside the old Severn Bridge for
:08:34. > :08:40.us now. What's it like there? It is lovely! Now, actually as you can
:08:41. > :08:44.probably tell, it is very windy It is raining quite hard and is very
:08:45. > :08:49.cold. The Highways Agency reckon the gusts will get up to 625 mph. That
:08:50. > :08:56.is busily quite dangerous. Already on the old Severn Bridge we have
:08:57. > :08:59.winds of 40 mph. They may close that to high sided vehicles and
:09:00. > :09:04.motorbikes later on as the winds get higher. You can find out the latest
:09:05. > :09:10.from the highways agency at their website. As for flooding, no severe
:09:11. > :09:19.flood warnings in place, but lots of flood alerts. That means be
:09:20. > :09:24.prepared. Lots of flood alerts all the way up through Gloucestershire
:09:25. > :09:37.and the river even in Bristol, along the river to other areas also.
:09:38. > :09:48.It will get worse as the night goes on. She has demonstrated the bad
:09:49. > :09:52.weather well! A number of flood alerts are already
:09:53. > :10:01.in place too. So how bad is the weather going to be tonight?
:10:02. > :10:14.A cold front here as you can see on the radar sequence. It will move
:10:15. > :10:19.steadily eastwards into this evening. You can see some heavy and
:10:20. > :10:34.torrential downpours are still on their way. It should be away by nine
:10:35. > :10:38.at ten o'clock this evening. If you were trying to get home on
:10:39. > :10:40.four wheels last night through Bristol you've probably not fully
:10:41. > :10:44.recovered from the trauma yet. Gridlock ` lock down ` snarl up All
:10:45. > :10:57.because a vital swing bridge got stuck. So, what about rush hour
:10:58. > :11:04.today? Is everything running smoothly tonight? It is going to
:11:05. > :11:08.plan in the Cumberland basin, you can see the traffic heading home on
:11:09. > :11:13.this bridge behind me. It is heading out of places like Portishead,
:11:14. > :11:18.Weston`super`Mare. This is a really important bridge in Bristol. It can
:11:19. > :11:27.take 20,000 vehicles during a busy traffic period.
:11:28. > :11:36.Some have called them Bristol's worst traffic jams for twenty years.
:11:37. > :11:40.Miles of gridlock. Crawling along so slowly that in places it took an
:11:41. > :11:43.hour to travel just one mile. This was the problem: the swing bridge in
:11:44. > :11:52.the Cumberland basin had swung open, then became stuck at 4.30pm
:11:53. > :11:58.yesterday. How did the drivers look? They looked angry. They were getting
:11:59. > :12:04.very frustrated and trying to get home. It took a lot longer than the
:12:05. > :12:08.plan. Engineers did manage to close the bridge by this morning's rush
:12:09. > :12:12.hour, but they had to do it manually, physically cranking a
:12:13. > :12:15.handle. That is no mean feat, when you consider this bridge weighs 800
:12:16. > :12:17.tonnes. Underneath, the fault`finding
:12:18. > :12:20.continued today. There's damage to the concrete
:12:21. > :12:23.supports at one end of the bridge. A sign the bridge may have swung
:12:24. > :12:26.without being in the raised position. That's caused mechanical
:12:27. > :12:38.damage to add to an electrical failure on this 1960s bridge.
:12:39. > :12:43.We put an enormous amount of resource into looking for the source
:12:44. > :12:47.of this fault and getting it fixed. It will take a couple of days. In
:12:48. > :12:52.the meantime, the bridge will be open to traffic and we will not
:12:53. > :12:56.attempt any more swings until we resolve what the fault is. So, the
:12:57. > :12:59.bridge is stuck shut. No problem for motorists, but yachts and tall ships
:13:00. > :13:09.can't get in or out of Bristol until the bridge is fixed. Just to
:13:10. > :13:18.reiterate: The council say the bridge should be fixed in the next
:13:19. > :13:21.couple of days. You would not want to be heading out to sea in this
:13:22. > :13:24.weather. If you're trying to get in, as a port of refuge, there are
:13:25. > :13:38.alternative marinas further up. Smoking is to be banned at all
:13:39. > :13:42.children's play areas in one Somerset town as the local council
:13:43. > :13:45.gets tough on the tobacco industry. And Taunton Deane Council says if
:13:46. > :13:48.the pilot project is successful it may extend the ban to all public
:13:49. > :13:51.areas its responsible for, including parks and playing fields.
:13:52. > :13:59.Pro`smoking groups say it's an abuse of power.
:14:00. > :14:07.Smoking by a children's play area in Taunton. But within a matter of
:14:08. > :14:16.weeks it will be banned by order of the council, who own the land. If we
:14:17. > :14:21.are serious about addressing the smoking related illness problem
:14:22. > :14:23.then we have to take steps such as this.
:14:24. > :14:26.Taunton Deane has become the first District Council in the country to
:14:27. > :14:28.sign up to an anti`smoking charter called the Local Government
:14:29. > :14:31.Declaration on Tobacco Control, which commits councils to take
:14:32. > :14:34.action to protect its residents from the harm caused by smoking, to
:14:35. > :14:36.support national action on tobacco and to generally reduce smoking in
:14:37. > :14:50.the population. But the idea of a ban on smoking
:14:51. > :14:53.outdoors, on health grounds, as drawn condemnation from pro`smoking
:14:54. > :15:04.organisations and those who see this as brutal over`regulation. There are
:15:05. > :15:11.no public health benefits to banning smoking outdoors because there is no
:15:12. > :15:20.risk of passive smoking outdoors. This is the bluntest form of policy.
:15:21. > :15:27.If smokers do not like this move, they may not like what will be
:15:28. > :15:32.around the corner. The council says that if the smoking ban is
:15:33. > :15:35.successful in this play area, they may extend it So how will that be
:15:36. > :15:42.received on the streets? To public parks and play areas. I
:15:43. > :15:50.would not mind. I would not mind, even outdoors. I want to quit! I am
:15:51. > :15:52.not a smoker, but they must have somewhere and I think that is going
:15:53. > :15:55.to fire. Taunton Deane Council says signs
:15:56. > :16:03.will go up in play areas very soon and they will impose the ban
:16:04. > :16:07.vigorously. There was some good news in the job
:16:08. > :16:10.market today ` unemployment has fallen in the west country, for the
:16:11. > :16:16.ninth month in a row. Here's the total: just under 37,500 people were
:16:17. > :16:22.out of work and claiming benefit in our region and that's the lowest it
:16:23. > :16:24.has been for five years. And in one industry companies are now finding
:16:25. > :16:33.it difficult to recruit skilled workers.
:16:34. > :16:39.They are the hottest gifts this Christmas. Shiny new tablet
:16:40. > :16:45.computers have gone from a luxury to a must have any couple of years The
:16:46. > :16:49.Power chips that power them are designed right here in the West
:16:50. > :16:54.Country. Employers see it is harder than ever to find recruits. They are
:16:55. > :17:02.targeting the next generation. Your Mac they are building robots,
:17:03. > :17:09.learning how to programme them. The teaching tomorrow's programmers
:17:10. > :17:19.the language of IT. We are learning how to work these programmes. It is
:17:20. > :17:23.a simple ?25 processor which allows youngsters to play at programming.
:17:24. > :17:29.The aim is to show young people that computers do not always come
:17:30. > :17:34.giftwrapped. I am not sure that children realise homely job
:17:35. > :17:38.opportunities there are. There is a lack of children coming through the
:17:39. > :17:49.education system into the computing world.
:17:50. > :17:53.Silicone chip design companies employ thousands across the West
:17:54. > :18:01.Country. All complain of a shortage of skilled staff. What is being done
:18:02. > :18:07.about it? That one teleports him... At a school in Bath, this woman is
:18:08. > :18:14.teaching youngsters about a Greek mythology game. For too long, she
:18:15. > :18:17.says, IDC classes have taught children to use computers, not to
:18:18. > :18:23.programme them. Now, that is changing.
:18:24. > :18:26.This is quite different, because they are using the computation
:18:27. > :18:31.skills and working through problems and solve what happens if I do this,
:18:32. > :18:35.why does this not work? What can I do to change it? That is a very
:18:36. > :18:39.different focus from what computer science wars rather than just
:18:40. > :18:43.technology. This is part of a new changed
:18:44. > :18:56.national curriculum which is hoped will change the view of young people
:18:57. > :18:58.for life. The double Olympic champion
:18:59. > :19:01.Charlotte Dujardin has completed a hat`trick of world records by
:19:02. > :19:04.winning the London stage of the dressage World Cup. Charlotte and
:19:05. > :19:08.her horse Valegro won individual and team golds at London 2012. And last
:19:09. > :19:22.night she became the first Briton to complete the treble at the freestyle
:19:23. > :19:25.event at Olympia last night. It has been an incredible journey. It has
:19:26. > :19:32.been an absolute roller`coaster I did not dream of achieving these
:19:33. > :19:42.things. When I think back, I have finally got my last world record, it
:19:43. > :19:46.is fantastic. Bristol Rovers take on Crawley Town
:19:47. > :19:50.tonight in their FA Cup second round replay. The two sides drew 0`0 when
:19:51. > :19:53.they met at the Memorial Stadium ten days ago. The winners face a trip to
:19:54. > :19:56.Championship side Birmingham City over the first weekend in January.
:19:57. > :19:59.The man who guided Bristol Academy ladies' football team to their best
:20:00. > :20:03.ever finish has been officially unveiled as the new England women's
:20:04. > :20:06.manager. Mark Sampson says he's sad to leave Bristol but excited by his
:20:07. > :20:08.new challenge. Now the club has started the process of replacing
:20:09. > :20:11.him. Mark Sampson is only 31 but his
:20:12. > :20:18.success with Bristol Academy was too good for England to ignore. During
:20:19. > :20:21.five years in charge, they need to FA Cup finals, played in Europe and
:20:22. > :20:28.finished as runners`up in the Super League. Today he admitted he had
:20:29. > :20:31.left the club with a heavy heart. I'm incredibly proud of my time at
:20:32. > :20:35.Bristol and it was difficult to leave and a big decision for me I
:20:36. > :20:38.always felt the only job I would leave Bristol forward be the
:20:39. > :20:43.national job. When it came around, it was such a special opportunity I
:20:44. > :20:47.felt I had to take it and I wanted to take it. I have great memories of
:20:48. > :20:51.Bristol, I worked with a fantastic chairman and some great people who I
:20:52. > :20:58.will know for the rest of my life, we share some special memories. He
:20:59. > :21:02.has already called up three Bristol players for his training camp,
:21:03. > :21:05.including his former captain. She says the Academy squad will stay
:21:06. > :21:11.together to build on the foundations he put in place.
:21:12. > :21:14.He's developed everyone as an individual, and the whole club has
:21:15. > :21:19.come on leaps and bounds since he has been in charge. We're all really
:21:20. > :21:22.upset to see him go, but now we have that platform for someone new to
:21:23. > :21:26.come in. I don't think people need to be too worried as we had a great
:21:27. > :21:29.season last year and we are determined to repeat that and go one
:21:30. > :21:32.better next season. The club's chairman has already had
:21:33. > :21:36.40 applications for the job from all around the world. But replacing a
:21:37. > :21:39.man who achieved so much with so little money won't be easy.
:21:40. > :21:42.Because we are the underdogs of the league and we don't have a
:21:43. > :21:46.Premiership club backing us, we do very much have to have a one`club
:21:47. > :21:49.approach. The manager at Bristol Academy has to look after the
:21:50. > :21:53.under`9s, all the way up through to the first team. We want someone who
:21:54. > :21:55.can brace that one`club feeling and keep that going.
:21:56. > :21:58.With Manchester City now joining the league and other established clubs
:21:59. > :22:02.really starting to invest in the women's teams, this season is geared
:22:03. > :22:03.up to be even more competitive. A big job then for whoever does
:22:04. > :22:15.succeed Mark Sampson here. Finally, a story to inspire us all.
:22:16. > :22:18.A Bristol woman who pulled a 97`year`old man out of his
:22:19. > :22:21.smoke`filled flat has won a bravery award. The firefighters who came to
:22:22. > :22:24.the flats where Jessamine Skuse lives were in no doubt that she
:22:25. > :22:31.averted a disaster. Even more remarkable, this heroine is 92 years
:22:32. > :22:34.old. Waking up to the smell of smoke
:22:35. > :22:43.Jessamine soon realised it wasn t coming from her flat so went out
:22:44. > :22:47.into the hall to investigate. I could see the smoke billowing out
:22:48. > :22:52.from underneath the door. I thought that something must be wrong, so I
:22:53. > :22:55.banged on the door. He was have a sleep in his chair, still bear.
:22:56. > :22:59.Evan, her 97`year`old neighbour was half asleep and Jessamine knew she
:23:00. > :23:07.had to get him out of the deadly smoke`filled room. I got him out and
:23:08. > :23:15.then I got my trolley from here and I took towards the door and I sat in
:23:16. > :23:18.it. It was difficult because he is a big man and over six foot.
:23:19. > :23:22.Wheeling him out onto the landing, Jessamine got Evan some fresher air.
:23:23. > :23:27.But she wasn't finished ` she went back to ring the fire brigade and
:23:28. > :23:30.pressed the alarm. Nothing happened. The fire alarm did not
:23:31. > :23:33.work. Evan Davis was taken to hospital by
:23:34. > :23:36.the emergency services but died due to smoke inhalation. But the
:23:37. > :23:40.firefighters were in no doubt that her heroic deeds that day averted a
:23:41. > :23:52.disaster and her neighbours feel they've had a lucky escape. We slept
:23:53. > :24:00.through all that. We would have been burnt in our beds. She was very
:24:01. > :24:02.brave. We would not have done what she did.
:24:03. > :24:05.Jessamine is convinced that her army training came into good use that
:24:06. > :24:08.morning. The Fire Service have recommended her for a bravery award
:24:09. > :24:11.from the Royal Human Society. She's the oldest person to ever receive it
:24:12. > :24:21.and probably the most reluctant to be called a hero. I could not
:24:22. > :24:25.understand it. I said it is only something that you do. You have to
:24:26. > :24:28.do these things, however old and ill you are, you have to keep trying.
:24:29. > :24:42.Her award is being delivered on Friday, without a party or any fuss.
:24:43. > :24:58.Going back to the weather tonight. All that Massey weather coming in.
:24:59. > :25:08.For tomorrow, we have added competitions on the way. Showers of
:25:09. > :25:14.rain and hail. Some of the showers will turn wintry. The rainfall radar
:25:15. > :25:18.of late shows the cold front moving in from the west with some pretty
:25:19. > :25:39.heavy downpours, torrential in places. Once the rain is out of the
:25:40. > :25:48.way, a dryer night. We may see some snow. For the rest of the evening,
:25:49. > :25:55.the showers will come in from the east. Those high winds will start to
:25:56. > :26:01.abate as we run through the evening. It will remain pretty blustery.
:26:02. > :26:06.Temperatures will get down as low as about 23 Celsius. Many in the East
:26:07. > :26:15.may start on a dry and bright note tomorrow. As we get through into the
:26:16. > :26:28.afternoon, cloud increases, rain coming in and perhaps some snow over
:26:29. > :26:36.the top of Exmoor. The soil and roared temperatures are fairly high
:26:37. > :26:42.so the snow will probably not stay. We will mostly see hail and rain. It
:26:43. > :26:56.will not be quite as windy tomorrow. Temperatures notably chillier. More
:26:57. > :27:01.rain on the way. Weather warnings for Somerset. Friday and Saturday
:27:02. > :27:21.will see some heavy rain. Let's open today's door on the
:27:22. > :27:36.advent calendar. We have a gallery on our Facebook
:27:37. > :27:43.page.