14/08/2014 BBC Wales Today

Calls have been made for private health-care patients

in Wales to have the same rights as those on the NHS.

At the moment if you're treated on the NHS you can turn to

the Ombudsman, who'll investigate independently and impartially.

But that's not the case for private patients.

With many people now opting to go private, the Welsh Ombudsman

India Pollock has this exclusive report.

Former rugby player and jazz musician.

Peter Lewis from Pontarddulais led a full and happy life.

But memories of his final days haunt his wife, Ruth.

In 2010 he needed knee replacement surgery and because

of a long waiting list on the NHS he went to the private

After being discharged from hospital he became unwell

and was rushed into his local hospital for a blood transfusion.

But Peter never recovered and passed away.

Although he had other medical problems, his wife Ruth believes

there were failures in the care her husband received at Spire Hospital.

She's been pursuing a complaint against the hospital

and surgeon who operated on her husband, but more than three

and a half years on from Peter's death, it's still not resolved.

It's as if time has stood still and I'm overwhelmed with the complaint

process, with reliving the concerns and fears I had at the time.

Each time a letter or a report comes through, you go back to square one

There are around 130 registered private

healthcare providers in Wales, offering services from cosmetic

The organisation that represents them says

its complaints procedure is robust and works well for patients.

Nobody really has any faith in internal investigations.

They really want to see investigations that are independent

and they are not going to believe that an independent sector is going

to really look properly and investigate properly anyone

They want something completely independent.

In a statement, Spire Hospital says its saddened by Peter Lewis'

death and that the welfare of its patients is their top priority.

Managers also say they have been in close contact with Ruth Lewis to

help her resolve her concerns, but that it would be inappropriate

to comment further until their investigation is complete.

Now Wales' Ombudsman, charged with answering complaints about the NHS,

He wants to see private health care brought within his remit.

In terms of the importance of an independent

and impartial investigation process, I would like to see an extension of

the jurisdiction of our powers here so we can make sure that that type

of impartiality and independence is available for people across Wales.

The Welsh Government says it has no current plans to review the role

As Ruth shares memories of happier times with her grandchildren,

her battle for answers about what went wrong will go on.

Torrential downpours have brought flash flooding to several parts

Elsewhere, homes were inundated with water in the Radyr area of the city.

People living there have been clearing up all evening.

Shot, we are on the top of the hill and we didn't expect anything like

this. -- shocked. Look at the roads coming down, it was like a river, a

waterfall coming straight down. We didn't stand a chance.

The man who killed five-year-old April Jones is seeking compensation

for injuries after he was slashed on the face by a fellow inmate.

Mark Bridger was jailed for life in May last year for murder, and

BBC Wales understands the Ministry of Justice is contesting the claim

Thousands of students have been getting

their A-level results and for the first time in five years, the

number of people here achieving the highest A-level grades has risen.

Wales has also narrowed the gap with England, but the overall pass

Our Education Correspondent Arwyn Jones reports.

It's the culmination of the best part of 15 years of education. Their

wonder there were some nervous faces at colleges across Wales this

morning. Plenty of elation here at Gower College at students here

mostly celebrated their success. How has it gone? Really good, I'm going

to Sheffield University. I got an a in maths and I didn't think I was

going to do it, but I did. The number of pupils who gained a star

grades is up from 6% last year to 6.7% this year. Also an increase for

those getting the top grades, ending four years of steady decline. But

the proportion of students achieving a pass has fallen very slightly,

from 97.6%, to 97.5%. I am very pleased this morning. We are seeing

good a incremental progress across-the-board in terms of Welsh

A-level results, heading in the right direction, and some very

important elements of that, showing progress in the right direction.

Here, as elsewhere, girls are continued to outperform boys, apart

from at the highest a star grades, with just over 98% getting a start

-E grades. This is a feature in England and Wales and it seems a

permanent feature. Although I'm sure that schools and colleges are very

much aware of this and therefore every effort is made to have

strategies which do promote boys outcomes. Here, pupils celebrated

success. Throughout Wales, more pupils chose to study chemistry,

economics and history, with a drop in IT, German and Spanish. For the

first time in over 30 years there has been a drop in the numbers did

top grades in England, so our students are catching up. Still a

way to go but Wales is now on the right track. Plenty of reasons for

these students to celebrate tonight. The Television presenter

and adventurer Bear Grylls, who's seeking planning permission to

build a harbour at St Tudwal's island off Abersoch, says he's come

up with a compromise. He's now altering the plans after

visiting the island with officers Last year he removed a large slide

off the island after being It's a spectacular area.

We don't want to do anything that would ever threaten that.

Conservation is right at the heart of what we do.

Actually it has been great to be able to spend some time up here with

the local authorities and Natural Resources Wales, and as soon

as you see people face-to-face, we have actually come up with really

sensible compromise plan where we try to do with slipway instead of

a harbour and that keeps them happy and the council happy.

Argentinian World Cup defender Federico Fernandez should become

a Swansea City player in the next few days.

The club has agreed a fee with Napoli

Some dramatic weather today, especially in the south and east.

Something quieter tonight and tomorrow, fewer showers and sunny

spells. A quiet night tonight, further south

it is dry and we have quite a bit of clear skies. Where we have clear

skies we will see Misty patches forming overnight, temperatures

10-14 Celsius. Chilly start tomorrow, the odd shower possible

but for most of us it is dry. The rest of the dry and bright weather

along the coastal areas. For the rest of the United Kingdom, few

showers coming into the spine of the UK. Adding further north, highs of

only 15 Celsius in Scotland. London is the place to be, highs of 22

Celsius. Not looking too bad in Wales tomorrow afternoon, more sunny

spells and much of the showers should have cleared by the

afternoon. Breezy along coastal areas but all in all, light wind

with highs of 16-20 Celsius in the sunshine. Feeling warm. A fine end

to the working week. It fairly quiet night tomorrow except for the

isolated shower, for the majority of us it is dry. In the countryside, we

could see temperatures getting down to around seven Celsius. Getting

into Saturday, the best day of the weekend. Breezy but more sunny

spells and the odd shower, by the afternoon we will have a bit more

clout but still some brightness coming through. A north-west and if

low then. -- more cloud. It will feel more like autumn through

Sunday. It is dry and brighter further south and sunshine and

showers for the beginning of next week.

On tomorrow's programme, the start of a series

of special reports from Flanders, where a new memorial is being

unveiled to the soldiers from Wales who fought in the First World War.

We'll be speaking to those who campaigned for it and hearing from

others who're making the journey to Belgium for the ceremony.

We'll have updates in Breakfast from 6am.