11/04/2014 BBC Wales Today

murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing. The Co-Op Bank has

Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight, findings of a major review of the

health service. There are longer waiting times here, but there's no

evidence Wales lags behind the rest of the UK. It seems quite likely

that cutting the budget has had an impact on waiting times and it is

what you would expect. As money gets tight, people may have to wait a bit

longer. At the Welsh Tory Conference - a double attack on the NHS here.

The Prime Minister says Offa's Dyke is becoming "the line between life

and death". Also tonight. 200 new jobs in Wrexham, as a financial

services company doubles its workforce.

In tonight's sport, a new European rugby tournament - now can the

regions and the WRU agree a new working relationship? Cardiff City

sack a member of staff, after reports their team was leaked to

Crystal Palace before Saturday's Premier League defeat.

And a first glimpse of the dragon for the new Welsh World War One

memorial in Flanders. Good evening.

Cutting NHS funding in Wales may be responsible for longer waiting

times. That's according to research by the Nuffield Trust and the Health

Foundation, which has compared the health service across the UK. But it

also suggests that there is no evidence to show the Welsh NHS, on

the whole, is "lagging behind" any other part of the country. It comes

as the Prime Minster launched his strongest attack yet on the NHS in

Wales. More on that in a moment, but first here's our health

correspondent, Owain Clarke. What seems to be a simple question

can sometimes take a long time to answer. Six academics worked for

more than two years trying to figure out whether Wales, Scotland, England

or Northern Ireland had the best performing health service. What is

clear from the study is that on lots of health targets that measure time,

such as ambulance response times and the amount of time patients have to

wait for common hospital procedures, the NHS in Wales is

struggling to keep up with other countries in the UK. Pinto 2009,

waiting times in Wales for things like hip, knee coronary artery

bypass surgery improved a lot. The gap narrowed between Wales and the

rest of the UK. But since then, they have deteriorated and lengthened

again. By 2013, a Welsh patient needing a new hip or knee on average

had to wait 100 days longer than someone in Scotland or England.

Peter Bishop knows what that is like. He spent more than a year

waiting for his hip replacement. He told me he would get the fixed as

soon as possible. I did not see him again for nine months. There was a

long waiting list. I basically just had to take my time. Why are Wales

patients waiting so much longer? We cannot be certain why that is

happening but one point is very clear, Wales was the only one of the

four countries that cut its expenditure on health in 2010 for

three years. One of the things you would expect from that kind of

action is that waiting times would lengthen. If the Welsh Government

had an opportunity to wind the clock back, would it change that decision?

And is the fact its recently decided to pump hundreds of millions of

pounds into the health budget in a way an admission that it made a

mistake? A decision was taken at the start of this assembly term to make

sure that we protected the social services side over the last ten

years, we have succeeded in reducing the number of people delayed in a

hospital bed when they do not need to be there. Those figures are now

at an all-time low. But some of the findings arm more encouraging.

Preventable deaths are lower than in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the

north-east of England, which has a similar demographic to Wales. Welsh

patients are the most satisfied with the way the NHS is run. But they are

the least happy about their experiences of staying in hospital.

Not every aspect of health care was stuck -- was covered in this study.

In other aspects, the Welsh element argues it is ahead of the pack.

51-year-old Fiona Bailey from Cardiff was told last year she had

less cancer. It took less than two weeks for her to see a specialist.

Everybody has been very efficient. And very professional. And very

kind. I was diagnosed in October and everything has moved so swiftly

since then. I have not had to wait for any treatment dates. But the

study suggests of the four countries can boast that their health service

runs like clockwork. Each generally speaking is improving at a similar

pace and it claims there is no evidence that any nation is either

surging ahead or lagging behind the others. But in Llangollen today, the

Prime Minister and the Health Secretary renewed their attacks on

Welsh Labour 's health record. There are calls for them to apologise to

staff. His utterly unfounded assertion has been that somehow in

Wales things are uniquely bad, that everything is fine in his own

backyard and that things are awful here. This report tells you that is

absolutely not the case. The Assembly's Health Minister

ending that report. And attacks on the NHS here have dominated the

opening day of the Welsh Conservatives party conference in

Llangollen, the Prime Minister described Offa's Dyke as the line

between life and death. Our political editor Nick Servini is

there. The conservatives call it the

compare and contrast strategy. Labour call it the Tory war on

Wales. Whatever you call it, it got ratcheted up today. Even quite a

provocative political gesture, the English Secretary of State for

health Jeremy Hunt was one of the first main speakers at the

conference. He described the Welsh Government 's attitude to mortality

rates in the wake of the hospital scandal at the Mid Staffs hospital

trust is morally indefensible. There was obviously a lot about -- a lot

of talk about health but it did not entirely dominate proceedings. There

was a lot of talk about jobs, as the Conservatives try to take ownership

of the economic recovery. These are the kind of people the

Prime Minister thinks have the right ambition for Wales. In his address

to the party faithful in Llangollen, ambition was his favourite word. He

used it 18 times. Most of what he said was about the economy. His main

claim was Wales is not only sharing in the recovery, but reading it.

Wales has in the past year seen a faster increase in implement than

any other part of the United Kingdom. Faster than London, faster

than the south-east, the UK capital for jobs growth is right here in

Wales. But is because we have a serious long-term economic and

unbacked plan is working. He tried to balance the positive with the

negative but the criticism when it came about the Welsh Government 's

stewardship of the NHS was further than he had gone before. Patients

are waiting weeks and weeks for vital heart scans, one in seven

people in Wales is on an NHS waiting list. We have a Cancer Drugs Fund

inning and but not here. And I tell you, when Offa's Dyke becomes the

line between life and death we are witnessing a national scandal.

Earlier, the man who runs the NHS in England Jeremy Hunt, came with a

message that the NHS year was sleepwalking into a Mid Staffs, this

was the hospital scandal in England where they were in a broth avoidable

deaths. We have had in England over the last year a very comfortable and

difficult transparency revolution where we have said in our NHS, where

things are going wrong, we will deal with them -- uncomfortable. Someone

in the party are uncomfortable that the strategy is too negative.

Very strong words today. Where do things go from here?

It is a good question. I think it is worth reflecting on the language

that David Cameron used and to talk about Offa's Dyke is the line

between life and death, pretty startling imagery and it was not

only that line. And fluid got a standing ovation at the conference

on the opening day at the conference. Labour are keen to point

out that Offa's Dyke is close to the border. Making the point it is not

as simple as they would betray it. One other thing I can reveal is that

Carwyn Jones has written privately to David Cameron saying that

political knock-about is all well and good but he believes these

attacks have gone beyond the pale because they destabilise the Welsh

NHS. I understand the response from Downing Street has been very robust.

What we have seen, this is the last of the Welsh medical conferences.

What the leaders are saying publicly is being mirrored in correspondence

between the Welsh Government and the UK Government at West Mr -- Welsh

political conferences. A task force has been set up to try

and prevent the closure of the Murco oil refinery in Milford Haven, and

protect 400 jobs. It comes after a proposed ?300 million buy-out from

an investment firm broke down last week. Lord Bourne, who is heading up

the talks, says they have already received a number of expressions of

interest. There are lots of those bits to go

through to see what expressions of interest we can follow-up, bearing

in mind that we have an excellent workforce. Well-trained,

well-qualified. You would expect massive interest and there is. We

want to look at those. If we are not able to protect those jobs, and I

hope that we are, we have to consider retraining packages. A

teenager who suffered severe hand injuries in an explosion at his home

in Wiston, in Pembrokeshire, hoped to join the Army, according to

neighbours. 19-year-old Jordan Smith was

airlifted to hospital where it's feared he will lose the use of both

hands. An army bomb disposal team, which has now left, were called and

police have been searching the property. Four nearby homes were

evacuated, but the road has now re-opened.

Police are continuing to investigate the sudden death of a teenage boy in

Swansea. The 15-year-old, named locally as James Lock, was found at

Hendrefoilan Student Village yesterday morning. The death of the

teenager, who was a pupil at nearby Olchfa Comprehensive School, is

being treated as unexplained. When you think of the world's

financial capitals, Wrexham may not be the first place that comes to

mind, but a banking industry company based there has announced plans to

create 200 jobs - doubling its workforce. Avox provides research

and information to banks and other financial institutions. Matthew

Richards has more. London, New York, Tokyo and now

Wrexham. Avox is helping the financial sector to become a more

stable place following the banking crisis. It employs 220 people now,

but will double that number by 2016 proving its service is in demand. It

trawls the world's websites on behalf of banks for up to date

information on its corporate customers to help them meet new

banking regulations. We are a number of years on from the financial

crisis. The banks are starting to do more business. But they still have

these regulatory reforms and reporting obligations and that will

continue. After a year of job losses in Wrexham at companies like Sharp,

First Milk and Kelloggs this is a bit of good news for local graduates

looking for a way into the financial sector. To see that they are

expanding, doubling, from North Wales in particular, Wrexham, it is

not thought of as a financial hub, but the recession has been hard for

people so to see so many jobs with such opportunities and the potential

to work your way up the ladder is really encouraging. From humble

beginnings, Avox now deals with the world's biggest financial firms

aiming to give them information they can bank on.

Anyway, these jobs are something positive to come out of the

financial crisis. The extra regulation now in place means that

companies like Avox have to work that much harder to do the homework

for the banks, making all of our money that much safer.

Still to come in the programme. Mystery surrounds the last minute

delay of TV's Griff Rhys Jones' honorary role at Cardiff University.

And we get a first look at the dragon for the new Welsh World War

One memorial in Flanders. Time for the day's sports news now.

Here's Claire. Good evening. Cardiff City have

launched as a reaction against two members of staff after reports their

starting line-up was leaked to Crystal Palace before last Saturday

's defeat. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has categorically denied any players

were involved. Here's our sports reporter Ashleigh Crowter. Cardiff

season just goes from bad to worse. The defeat to Crystal Palace was a

disaster. It has been a chaotic season on and off the pitch. But

Cardiff City now feel their opponents had an unfair advantage.

The club have held an internal investigation into reports that

Crystal Palace were given the Cardiff team line-up a day in

advance. As a result, two members of staff are facing discipline

reaction. Today, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer categorically denied any

of his players had leaked information.

I have built my life on honesty and loyalty. Those are the values I get

from my mother and father and you need that in football. We have stuck

together. Crystal Palace as sporting director is Iain Moody. He was head

of recruitment at Cardiff until he was sacked by Vincent Tan earlier

this year. He has told the Sun newspaper that he and Crystal Palace

had done nothing wrong. Cardiff City now want to take things further.

They are compiling evidence about the evidence to give to the Premier

league. They feel that their team sheet was obtained early by

underhand means and they want bosses to explore whether rules have been

broken. Cardiff have just five matches left

to pull off what would be a miracle escape from relegation. They are

away at Southampton tomorrow. Swansea travel to title contenders

Chelsea on Sunday. They are competing for the league. They are

in the semifinals of the Champions League. They are one of the

strongest squads in the league. One of the best managers in the world.

When you look at it, on paper, we do not stand a chance. But the key is

you do not fear these challenges, you have to embrace them. We have

two showcase ourselves. Garry Monk has not discussed his future with

the Swansea board but is confident he could do the job long-term.

The deal is done for a new European Tournament - now attention turns to

the future of the domestic game. Both the Welsh regions and the Welsh

Rugby Union have welcomed the new competition but have yet to agree a

domestic deal on funding and releasing Wales players for

internationals. Gareth Lewis is at the Liberty Stadium for us tonight.

Fans arriving there for tonight's match. What's been their reaction to

the new competition? Three emotions, relief that the

European dealers done, concern over the ongoing difficulties between the

Welsh Rugby Union and the regional sides and their wallets. The new cup

will be shown by BT and sky and they might have two fork out for two

subscriptions to watch it next season.

The European deal, first of all, your reaction. You're relieved it

has finally been done? It has taken this long, we have ended up where we

started in October and the whole way that we wanted to do it was just

bring more money into the game, which means that everybody

ultimately benefits because you do not have to fund regional rugby as

much. You have more money now. What sort of difference will it make? It

is a small part of it but when you look at the TV deals that France and

in and have done, we have a competition still run by the unions

where we have only the name miniscule amount of money in return

for the TV deal. There are still a long way to go. There is a massive

shortfall. Is that the crux of the argument? You are trying to work out

this legal document, is it down to money and how it is distributed? I

think there needs to be a bigger picture to that. It comes back to

trust and collaboration and the way that we can work together to

generate new link to come into the game which sued then fly down from

there. -- which could then flood down from there.

We are -- there has to be growth in the domestic game. Let's start

working together. A huge game for your boys night a bonus point win

could get back into the play-off places. Very much so. If we can do

it with what we are scraping by without the woman, imagine what we

could do if it was fully supported. -- with at the moment. There is a

lot of water to go under the bridge yet. We have learned this afternoon

that the regions are going to make a presentation to the role should be

on board at the end of the month. -- the Welsh Rugby Union board. Of

course, the action is on BBC Two Wales from 7pm. At the US Masters in

Augusta, Wales' number one golfer Jamie Domaldson has just got his

second round underway. The 38-year-old carded an opening

round 73, one over par yesterday. 1991 champion Ian Woosnam finished

his first round 77, five over par. He's the 50-year-old welshman -

credited with Sir Dave Brailsford who was brought

up in Deiniolen, near Caernarfon, has stood down as head of British

Cycling, to focus exclusively on his role in charge of Team Sky. He's

aiming for a hat-trick of Tour de France titles this summer. And you

can watch all the action from Augusta this weekend, coverage on

the red button and BBC Two tomorrow. That's it. Enjoy your weekend.

Comedian and presenter Griff Rhys Jones' appointment to a top role at

Cardiff University was delayed at the last minute after questions were

raised over why a Nobel Prize holder was not offered a second term in the

post. It's believed the current Chancellor, Professor Martin Evans,

should have been asked to stay on for a further five years before

offering it to the TV star. Matt Murray reports.

I am having this terrible recurring nightmare. What is it? It might have

involved Cardiff University. Griff Rhys Jones may have been struggling

to see the funny side after his appointment as Chancellor of Cardiff

university was delayed. The comedian is best known for his partnership

with the late Mel Smith in this long-running BBC comedy. And was

ready to grasp his new role as Chancellor having already posed for

publicity photos in a Cardiff University gown. It is believed the

comedian was here and ready for Ray ceremony but it was cancelled or

postponed with just an hour to go. It's understood the Current

Chancellor, Sir Martin Evans, should have been asked to stay in the post

for a further five years and he was keen to stay in the post. For

students leaving lectures today it seemed an embarrassing situation all

round. They just cancelled at the last minute. I do not think we have

heard what happened. They should be able to organise to their chancellor

is for the University. The university has said that the

reputations of both Griff Rhys Jones and Professor Martin Evans were not

in question, describing them both as valued friends and supporters of

Cardiff University, while the comedians office declined to

comment. Now for the past 15 months, we've

been keeping you up to date with plans for a new Welsh, World War One

memorial in Flanders. And today we can show you, for the first time, a

full size model of the dragon which will top the monument. It's been

made at a foundry in Llanrhaedr ym Mochnant in Powys. From there Roger

Pinney reports. A first glimpse for a Sunday first

gimp -- glimpse for Lee Odishow. Let's get

-- I have got to make sure that I am happy with the design. Make sure my

designers realise what I wanted to be and then present it to the world.

And the world will see it on top of the Welsh stone waiting in

Flanders. At the weekend, the sculptor went there to see where his

work will set. The site is at the sight of the Passchendaele battle.

In Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant today, some of those steering the project.

There is still money to be raised. At the Dragon is proving to be

everything they hope for and more. The wow factor is still there. We

were very impressed with the model but now we have seen the full-size

one, fantastic. The stones are, it is built, and now we are looking

forward to putting the two together. It is gone to be a real honour for

me to see it. I have been out of Belgium to see the stone standing

ten feet tall, to have this out on top of it will be such an honour.

Much of the work now is down to the fine arts foundry. Experts in their

field. No strangers to prestige projects. They will turn the clay

model into a bronze. As stunning as this looks, this is not even halfway

there yet. Moulds will have to be made before

the bronze is poured. But they are certain it will be ready for

unveiling in August. How's it looking for the weekend,

Sue? Not looking bad at all this weekend. Many people starting their

Easter break. Mostly settled. It will be cloudier

on Saturday with some rain. Sunnier on Sunday. This evening's largely

dry. The sky clear tonight, so turning chilly with some ground

frost forming in sheltered rural spots, but clouding over through the

early hours further west. And that's thanks to a cold front which brings

some thicker cloud through tomorrow and some rain on this too. So

tomorrow, the best of the any brightness early on further south

and east. Then that front pushes in from the Northwest, the breeze picks

up. Cloud thickening and a few spots of light rain and drizzle - but as

that band moves southeastwards it peters out through the day, so not

huge amounts of rain. A fresh westerly breeze. Highs of 11 Celsius

along Cardigan Bay. Maybe up to 13 in Denbighshire. That front

continues to clear southeastwards through tomorrow night into Sunday

morning. Then a ridge of high pressure builds back in from the

Azores. So a clear, chilly start Sunday. Even a touch of frost

possible, but the better day of the weekend. A lot more in the way of

sunshine. Some cloud around. I can't rule out a shower completely, but

staying dry and fine for most. A westerly breeze. Highs of ten to 14

Celsius. The settled spell continues into next week. High pressure

dominating Monday and Tuesday, so largely dry with more fine weather.

Clearer by day. That also means colder by night, so a continued risk

of frost. Then some signs it might turn unsettled later next week into

the Easter weekend, but still a lot of uncertainty about that. Today's

picture is from Sharon Laban, a lovely spring scene overlooking

Bracelet Bay on Mumbles. Lots of fine weather there early next week.

Don't forget you can send photos to us by twitter or email, especially

if they help to tell the weather story.

A reminder of our top stories. Cutting NHS funding in Wales may be

responsible for longer waiting times, according to research by the

Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation. But it also says there's

no evidence to show the Welsh NHS on the whole is "lagging behind" any

other part of the UK. It comes as the Prime Minster launched his

strongest attack yet on the NHS in Wales.

And a banking industry company based in Wrexham has announced plans to

create 200 jobs, doubling its workforce. Avox provides research

and information to banks. That's all for now. The next

subtitled news is at 8pm and at 10:25pm. From all of us here, good

evening.