24/02/2014 BBC Points West

so it's goodbye from me, and on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news

teams where Welcome to BBC Points West with

Sabet Choudhury and Alex Lovell Our main story tonight.... The computer

system blamed for a childs death. Three`year`old Samuel Starr died

after surgery in Hospital. It's not like he had a bad care, he had no

care at all. He passed away in our arms. A report into the death finds

the computer system in the hospital may have played a part.

Also in tonight's programme. Did a truck driver jumping the lights

cause the death of a young Bristol teacher? Finally, floodwater starts

to recede from someof the Somerset levels.

Back from the cold, super slider Jenny Jones returns to her childhood

home. Good evening. A report into the

death of a three`year`old boy from Somerset has found the introduction

of a new computer system may have played a part in his death. Samuel

Starr died in September 2012. His parents say delays caused by the new

system meant he hadn't had a cardiac check up for more than 20 months. As

our health correspondent Matthew Hill reports, Samuel was not the

only child whose appointment was delayed. Samuel Starr was born with

a heart condition and when he was three had an operation at the

Bristol Children's Hospital but his parents were concerned that it took

longer than expected. They removed his lines, and we spoke to Samuel,

and then he passed away, in our arms. Despite the many questions the

family had about his operation in Bristol, their biggest concern was

whether his death might have been prevented if there weren't huge

delays to his regular checkups when he was alive. Samuel's local

hospital was where Bristol outpatients held regular clinics.

Sam's condition meant he was supposed to have regular scans to

make sure his condition did not serve me worse, but following

successful surgery in 2010 his heart was scanned. But that turned out to

be the last scan he had for some 20 months. It's not like he had a bad

care within the time, he had no care at all. We have discovered that a

key factor in the delays was the introduction of a new IT system for

hospital appointments. I am absolutely disgusted that it was

recognised, but no actual action was taken on it. In review of the deaf,

Bristol Children's Hospital concluded that the delays might have

played a part. `` in a review of the death. We also discovered there were

63 overdue appointments for children because of the introduction of the

system, with some taking nearly two years to discover. The hospital

declined to answer any specific questions about the system saying in

a statement: Samuel's parents also hope that this

inquest, which starts next Monday, will answer some of the questions.

And you can see more on that story on Inside Out West on BBC One at

7:30pm tonight. Joining me now is our health correspondent Matthew

Hill who has been working on this investigation. Is this computer

problem fixed? It has been fixed for some time. These were teething

problems, but nevertheless very serious teething problems. The

computer was also rolled out at North Bristol trust at the same

time. You remember there were reports that with e`mails from

consultants warning managers that they thought patients were being put

at risk, which is something North Bristol have always maintained it

didn't happen, but in this case we were talking about 63 children with

overdue appointments that `` and we don't know about the adults. But

what we do know is there is one case where potentially a patient came to

harm. Thank you very much. A jury has heard how a Bristol lorry driver

is alleged to have driven through changing traffic lights seconds

before colliding with a pedestrian. Teacher Jake Thompson died of head

injuries after being hit by the thirteen and a half tonne truck

Paul Vowles denies causing death by careless driving. Our Home Affairs

Correspondent, Steve Brodie, was in court.

Jake Thomson's family travelled down from their home in Durham to hear

how the prosecution claim their son died three years ago. The

27`year`old supply teacher died in May 2011 from severe head injuries,

five days after being hit at the Three Lamps junction while walking

back to his home in Totterdown. Jake Thompson was waiting to cross the

road here at the junction of the A4 and the A37. Two seconds before the

red man changed to green he stepped off the curb into the path of the

lorry. At the last second he tried to jump back but it was too late.

Prosecuting Edward Burgess told the court that lorry driver Paul Vowles

had not been driving dangerously but given the size of the vehicle, its

speed and the fact he lived locally and knew the area, it had been

decided to charge him of causing death by careless driving. One

witness told the jury that the lorry went through these lights as they

changed from amber to red. The tachograph recorded an average speed

of 38 mph but Paul Vowles had swerved at the last minute to avoid

hitting the pedestrian. Paul Vowles denies causing death by careless

driving. Stay with us for a full weather round`up later. Still to

come: Delivering drama and joy at Southmead Hospital as one born every

minute returns to our screens. Swindon Town striker Nile Ranger has

gone on trial in Newcastle today charged with rape. The 22`year`old

denies sexually assaulting a woman at a Newcastle hotel in January last

year. A report's been published into a death of a motorist killed by a

100 mile an hour train at a level crossing near Taunton. 65`year`old

Dennis France drove onto the crossing at Athelney last March at

half past six in the morning. The report found he may have believed

the crossing had failed because engineering work had affected the

timing sequence and it was closed to traffic for longer than normal. The

devastated mother of a baby boy who died at a Bristol hospital broke

down today at an inquest into his death. Rowan Rhodes was transferred

to hospital at six weeks old but his died just two days later. His

parents believe that a decision to remove him from his ventilator

contributed to his death. It has been confirmed that that shouldn't

have happened, and the other part was when he was deteriorating that

night, nobody escalated his care when they should have. He was left

for many hours with nobody taking even a blood sample to see how he

was doing. The hospital has not yet given its account of what happened

and we will bring you more details on that as the inquest continues

over the next few days. After weeks upon weeks of flooding, finally the

water levels are beginning to drop. Pumps have been taking water all day

off the levels and into the River Tone. The Environment Agency says

it's reduced the flood levels in Moorland, Fordgate and East Lyng by

at least a foot. Fiona Lamdin reports. Late letters ` the post,

postponed here in Chad Mead for the last few days. And at last a lawn

replaces Vic's lake. Inside though, the dirty water still sloshes

around. The ground floor is absolutely finished. It all has to

go. It's not just the water damage, it's the bacterial problem you will

get with it as well as we have sewage in here. You have to get it

sanitised. Do you want a hot pasty? And just five days ago, people were

wading through this, now the river's returned to a road. Across the road,

Ian may have now have a dry house but it's dirty and damaged and he's

uninsured. It has got a lot better, the water has done `` gone down over

a foot, and now it is just a big clean`up. They are still surrounded

by water, but when I was here a week ago the water was right up to the

window of the front door. You could not see their silver doorknocking.

Residents say that overnight they think the water has fallen by at

least a foot. In the last 48 hours we've seen a huge improvement with

the water levels and people have been able to do things they haven't

been able to do for a number of months, and in some case you have

seen the rivers fall by up to half a metre. I would say we are probably

looking at at least six weeks to get all of the water away. The water

maybe slowly receding but for some it could be a quite some time before

boating home ceases to be reality. It's already months late and

millions of pounds over budget ` but today the most radical reform of the

benefits system to take place in decades has arrived in the West

Bath and North East Somerset is one of the first places to pilot what's

called Universal Credit. The government says it's all about

getting people into work and helping them stay there. Here's our

political editor Paul Barltrop. It's a revolution in Britain's

welfare system ` rolling six benefits into one. Ultimately eight

million people will be on Universal Credit. One of the main aims is to

make things simpler. First to find out, people using Bath job centre.

How complicated is the whole benefit system? Don't even go down that

road, very. People asking for jobs they are not wanting that many

hours. It's not the easiest. You can only work 16 hours a week, and it's

trying to find a job that will let you do that that's the problem. It's

rubbish. It's widely accepted the present system doesn't work well.

Universal Credit should give claimants more incentive to get into

work. This radical change actually got support from all the main

political parties, but where it has proved controversial is in its

institution. It should have got here in the autumn but is running behind

schedule and over budget. Government minister David Freud visited Bath to

meet job centre staff. Among the challenges, costly computer software

problems. What we are doing is building the system very, very

safely and securely. We are taking all the time we need to make sure

that as we do it, there are no problems, and people have a good

experience and we deliver what we need to deliver, which is universal

credit which helps and supports people into the workplace. Meeting

the minister, a local businessman who hopes it'll make it easier to

recruit staff:. On a number of occasions, what is said to me is

that I could not work by myself because it affects the overall

benefit income. So anything that takes away those barriers has to

help us to be able to recruit and grow the business. Universal Credit

arrives in Bath after earlier delays. Rolling it out across the

whole country will take many more years.

A brand`new military drone bought by the army of nearly ?1 billion begins

trials in Wiltshire. The wingspan is 35 feet and it is called Watch

Keeper. It will provide real`time intelligence and surveillance

information for ground forces. Those operating it are training at lark

hill. We've been constrained in the past by not being able to utilise

things in the UK. With the ability to have this and operated over the

Salisbury plain training area, we can interact with those we are

supporting in real life. Jenny Jones, who won bronze at the

winter Olympics, has gone back to her childhood home of Downend in

south Gloucestershire. Her medal in the slopestyle was Britain's first

ever medal on snow. And, as Alistair Durden found out, she wasn't even

sure people back home were watching. Congratulations to you. We are very

proud of you and very excited to have the time. In Downend where

Jenny grew up, everybody has wanted to pass on their congratulations. As

it convinced you to go snowboarding? `` has it? Not quite. Soon the word

was out that she was back home. You did such an amazing job. And

everybody wanted an autograph. Well done. It's funny coming back here. I

remember being here when I was a youngster, skateboarding, going to

the shop to buy sweets. I just didn't think people would recognise

me or know about the Olympics, but obviously it's been quite a big

thing back here. That is incredible. So exciting. Lovely to meet somebody

you've seen on TV having such an amazing achievement, and then they

walk into your shop. That's just perfect. It is two weeks since Jenny

Jones won her bronze medal in Sochi, the first this country has

ever won on snow. But her journey started in Somerset on the dry slope

at Churchill where she first got on a snowboard 16 years ago. It's not

as steep as I remember. Maybe that's because I was learning and it was

all really scary at the beginning, in a good way. It definitely felt

steeper. Now she is hoping to inspire the next generation of

snowboarders. OK, who thinks they will go this way, and who thinks

they will go that way? I have one or two camps where I help training on,

and I've always enjoyed it. Teaching people freestyle for the first

time, I'll always keep doing that. Hopefully it's inspired people to go

snowboarding. Good luck. And the lady, yes. We sold out of

snowboarding in 24 hours of her winning the medal. We've had to

chase down instructions `` instructors and getting more

sessions on. The trick now is to keep them going and keep them

inspired. I offered Jenny a job but I'm not sure she will accept. She

has already appeared on chat shows and become a face people recognise

worldwide. So how is she handling being famous? I don't know. I can

still cycle to the gym and back without getting recognise, so I m

doing all right. I didn't expect this at all. The reaction is just

unbelievable. It's nice to be back and to be amongst Bristolians. She

will be seeing a lot more of them when the open top bus tour takes

place next Monday. Can't wait for that. From the Mules

of Minehead to the poets of Gloucestershire, World War One At

Home is a partnership between the BBC and Imperial War Museums and its

aim is to reflect what was going on back here in the West during the

First World War. This year marks the centenary of the outbreak of the

conflict. Every community was affected. More than 400 hospital

trains arrived in Bristol. 1.5 million women in the workforce and

there was the first use in combat of tanks, poisonous gas and submarines.

In the first of a series of films on Points West this week, I took to the

skies over Gloucestershire to learn more about the activities of the

Australian Flying Corps in the county.

Gloucestershire at it's magnificent best. Skies which once were a

training ground for wartime heroes. But it's only down below where you

can find the clues. I am next to the 846, a busy commuter route in

Gloucestershire. Cars travelling up to places like Stroud. I wonder if

they know the connections this place as to the First World War. The clue

is in the title. It may not look like much now, but this was once a

home for novice pilots who had come all the way from Australia. Although

today it's home to Pat, in a house built in 1920s. All this area was

the officers mess. Quite a big area, taking in all the bungalows and the

big buildings. It was pulled down after the war. And it went as far as

over here? Yes, all round. In all of the stones of the broken

foundations, the walls are built of that. `` all of the stones are the

broken foundations. Much has changed here, but for the curious, it's a

treasure trove of history. Some of the old people that had been here

came back and they could tell you where they slept, you know? But

since then, you get relatives coming back and saying, oh, grandad was

here, or they want to know where the cemetery is things like that. And

that resting place is where many who once stayed here called their final

home. To get a better view I'm doing what all those pilots loved to do.

My mode of transport, a bi`plane based on a Tiger Moth, the flying

machine of choice for our Australian airmen. It looks very solid, but

this is Irish lineage that has been stretched and treated and then

placed over a latticework of balsa wood.

But don't be fooled by it's basic construction. In the sky, its grace

is unrivalled. The Australians chose

Gloucestershire as their training base as it was beyond the reach of

German aircraft and was safe from bombing. The actual chaps who were

the trainers had come over from the Western front. They were the aces,

but the people who are being trained at properly come from places like

Gallipoli. They didn't come straight from Australia. They came from the

theatre of war that was Europe. Up here in this open cockpit, you can

feel the ghosts of the men who flew over these green fields. You can

imagine their wonder and joy to be up here, all the while carrying a

fear of what lay ahead of them in this brutal war. But many of them

never saw the front line. Poor weather and often hurried training

meant terrible accidents. Let's have a look at this stone. It has the

name of all the guys on it. The guys that were buried here. These graves

mark the final resting place of Australian airmen who died, learning

to fly in the area. I think they understood the risks, but they were

willing to take them. The last chapter die in a crash actually got

into a bank of fog over the Lizard and crashed into a hill. Planes were

flying here a mere 14 years after The Wright Brothers first took to

the skies. Incredible progress made at the cost of young lives. Look at

their ages: 22, 19, 23. A ceremony is held every April to commemorate

the sacrifice. They would have travelled thousands of miles to come

here and serve their country, and they died so young and so far from

home. It was a very moving journey,

actually, and you can enjoy more of the flight, if you want to watch it,

it's on the Facebook page. If you are interested, the plane I was up

in was built in the 1930s, and S the foresee `` it was an SV4C. Tomorrow

night David will be visiting Bristol Zoo which hosted shows for injured

troops during the conflict. And BBC Radio Bristol will be exploring the

role the zoo played in a special report tomorrow morning at 8.15

Now, if you've given birth in the Bristol area recently, chances are

you might recognise some of the stars of a prime time TV show

tonight. Yes, the Channel four programme One Born Every Minute

spent three months capturing the drama and joy in the delivery suite

at Southmead hospital. Sally Challoner has been to meet some of

the midwives, and one of the mums making an appearance tonight.

Every minute... Let the fun begin. Every day. A baby is in Britain The

Channel four team were in the delivery suite for three months

Cameras and microphones catching the highs and lows, the screams and sobs

of hundreds of women, here for the most important moments in their

lives. We had the best midwife ever, didn't we? Really touchy`feely. I

loved that. It's a really personal. Georgina and Richard got to know the

unit's staff really well, before and after the birth of baby Max. That

means you are nearly there. I could hear them moving, and it wasn't too

bad, but overall, I was thinking, what are they seeing? You have

different cameras in unusual places. The way they put the story on the

journey together is enough, to be honest. You don't need to edit it in

anyway. They are really good at what do. All of the staff were brilliant.

More than 6,000 babies are born here every year and there are 60

midwives, working shifts around the clock. Seeing my staff in action

behind closed doors, which obviously you don't see all the time was very

lovely. It was really lovely. They came across very, very well, and

very caring of the families they were looking after. I sit here

sometimes, and it's like this, and like that. There are some people

that are proper Bristolians. You pick up some characters, and you get

that in every workplace, but we are a great bunch and we obviously work

really well together. We had all different types of things going on,

we had emergencies happen, lovely natural births, water, same`sex

couples, the whole mix of things. For Georgina and Richard ` an

experience they'll never forget and a record of his birth that they can

one day share with Max. I can't watch that programme without

crying my eyes out. They are so beautiful about the screaming, it's

scary. ``, but the screaming, it's scary. Anyway, Gemma ex`Commissioner

`` Gemma. Onto less scary thing is, as we head

out of February and into March, the weather although unsettled is better

than the bulk of the weather we ve had this winter. We have blustery

showers on the way and we do have strong winds to contend with, but on

the whole, not bad. We have blustery showers but bright spells. The wind

is picking up from time to time and that will be a factor going into

tomorrow, especially as we look at the radar pattern where we did have

a few showers but they didn't amount to a great deal. We also had some

very good spells of sunshine that lifted the temperatures into double

figures for much of the region. Very good February values through the

West Country. We do have an area of low pressure moving in overnight,

bringing an organised band of rain. It pushes through by tomorrow but

the legacy is scattered and blatter `` blustery showers. You can see the

ice are packed tightly will stop for the rest of this evening and

tonight, showers dying away `` you can see the isobars are packed

tightly. The band of rain pushes through, and by tomorrow morning

it's gone. Accompanying cloud means the overnight lows are sorry `` low,

six or seven, and I'll start tomorrow. But the scattered and

blustery showers and gusting winds along the Bristol Channel at about

40 or 50 mph. Sunshine in between the showers but they will be sharp,

and a little bit more chilly, with the cold front dragging in cold air,

so ten or 11, may be feeling a little cold and fresher with the

wind. Tomorrow night the showers die away and then we are looking at

temperatures going a bit colder tomorrow night, collaborating, and

why we have showers MIB wintry `` cloud breaking. Wednesday is a good

day with lots of sunshine with fewer showers.

That's it from us. A quick reminder that Inside Out is on here in 3

minutes. We will be back with you for the 10pm news, but for now,

goodbye.