01/03/2017 London News

to be taught about healthy relationships in schools all over

is criticised over its treatment of patients.

So, in outpatients, there were patients having procedures in

corridors that staff had almost become normalised.

You know, and it's not appropriate to be

Also ahead - a warning to drivers, tougher penalties from today mean

double the points for those caught using their mobile phone.

Born four months early - one of the youngest patients

in the world to survive major abdominal surgery -

For her to be so small and go through all that and still alive,

And in fine voice - we meet the first woman

in 1,000 years to become a full-time chorister at St Paul's Cathedral.

A very warm welcome to BBC London News with me Riz Lateef.

"Out-patients having procedures in corridors -

and sewage leaking into clinical areas".

Just some of the damning findings by health

watchdog inspectors in Hertfordshire.

The NHS Trust which runs three hospitals in Watford,

St Albans and Hemel Hempstead - is being kept in special measures

for the third consecutive year - over the standard of

As Sarah Harris reports - the new Chief Executive says she can

After 23 hospital stays, the last one for five weeks,

92-year-old Doris Harrison who is being treated for pneumonia

should be a good judge of how Watford General should improved.

It is hard for them. There's not enough nurses.

They could do with another one on the wards.

But inspectors didn't criticise staffing levels at the trust

that includes Watford, St Albans, and Hemel hospitals.

Their report said outpatients' privacy and dignity

The emergency department did not treat patients quickly enough

and the temperature on some wards was too high to store medicines.

There were some issues with the environment

In outpatients, there were patients having procedures in corridors.

And it's not appropriate to be having care in a corridor.

Despite improvements, the trust will remain in special

measures with nurses and doctors under pressure, but managers

insist they are hiding in the right direction.

-- heading in the right direction.

As far as patients are concerned, the trust is still failing.

As the CQC said, we've had a long way to come and we've come a

long way and were still very much focused on the ongoing progress

day-to-day of our quality improvement journey.

There are very substantial improvements in maternity,

critical care, lots of improvements in medicine, surgery

And the efforts being made are appreciated by Yvonne Stanley

from Abbots Langley who gave birth to both her children

at Watford General and, despite challenges, believes

the community should get behind the health service.

Obviously, there's been identified room for improvement but,

on the whole, my experience has been generally positive, latterly.

I had a bad experience with my mum a few years ago but I can never

be more than thankful to Watford General Hospital

for saving both mine and my daughter's life.

Its gratitude that's shared by Doris who, it's likely,

will be a patient at Watford General for some time yet

with staff determined to make further improvements,

Coming up later in the programme. Leyton Orient have been served with

a winding up order. If they don't pay their debts, they could be

forced out of business. We will be speaking to the fans group

desperately coming up with a rescue plan.

Drivers caught using hand-held mobile phones face tougher

The fine has doubled to two hundred pounds,

and the number of penalty points has also doubled to six.

Police have pledged to put an "increased focus"

on catching offenders, and Asad Ahmad

can tell us more about it. Asad.

It's all got a lot stricter from today for drivers who use a mobile

phone while driving. Is it becoming as socially unacceptable as

drink-driving? Is it an overreaction? Not if you talk to the

100 or so people who were very seriously injured wife drivers using

a phone last year. Last by drivers. An automatic six penalty points if

you are caught with a mobile phone behind the wheel. If you are a new

driver, you will have to reset your test altogether. Cabbies who drive

around London all the time and see what other drivers are up to, what

do they think about it? I think it's a brilliant idea. It's very

prevalent. You see people on their phones constantly. Especially

minicab drivers on their apps. Very good idea. I think it's a fair call.

You see everyone, women, men, cab drivers, even. Six points in there.

You know. The police have got to be seen to be doing something, I think.

Just to clarify a few points with the new law. Can you text or use

social media went behind the will? Very clearly not. You can listen to

a podcast or music but only if the phone is in a hands-free holder. You

cannot use it to watch video at all. Can you use it for sat now? The

answer is yes but it must be in a hands-free holder in your vehicle.

Can you use it if you pull over? The answer to that is, you must be in a

safe place when you pull over and you must have your engine switched

off. The advice from the RAC, the AA and politicians is to put the phone

out of temptation in the Love box. All done, drive safely. -- in the

glove box. Businesses are warning

the Chancellor that parts of South East London and Kent

could grind to a standstill if an urgent decision

isn't made on where to build Both the Federation of Small

Businesses and the London Chamber of Commerce say the Government needs

to make good on its promise for another bridge or tunnel,

or risk damaging A crossing that can't cope,

hampering the UK's economy. The Federation of Small Businesses says

that in addition to the Dartford Crossing, a new lower Thames

crossing is needed now. There is a real problem with congestion in

Kent, Essex, London. It will only be solved by another lower Thames

crossing. We need the Chancellor to seize the day in the budget and take

action on this. Make a decision. In January last year, highways England

Jose tunnel east of Gravesend as their preferred option rather than

another crossing at Dartford. It produced images of what it would

look like. The public consultation received 47,000 responses. But still

no decision. In an article tomorrow, several organisations say that the

Dartford Crossing is creaking under the pressure of 50 million crossings

a year. It threatens to bring the south-east to a standstill. He

promised to make a decision by the government in due course is not good

enough. Many agree. It's disgusting that they have never made it good. I

think you knew -- I think a new crossing is definitely needed.

Nobody wants it on their doorstep but it is needed. If you get a snarl

up, an accident or something, people in Dartford are tailed back for

hours and hours. The Department for Transport said it recognised the

need for a new crossing but said a decision will be taken in due

course. I'm optimistic that we will get a decision this month. It's

important that we will get the right decision that will give motorists a

chance. As soon as we get that decision, we can get on with

building the thing. All eyes will be on the Chancellor next week.

Simon, why is this decision taking so long? The government was unable

to clarify what it means by those three keywords, in due course but it

is sifting through 47,000 responses to the public consultation, the

biggest response ever for a project of this type. Whatever it chooses is

going to be controversial. The Dartford MP says that a new crossing

here will bring more traffic into Dartford. He thinks it should be

near Gravesend. But the Gravesend MP says that could bring 30 years of

misery to the M25. A driver filmed screaming at BBC

presenter Jeremy Vine as he cycled down a road is to appeal

against her conviction. Shanique Pearson threatened

to knock out the TV star and made a gun sign at him

during an altercation She was found guilty of driving

without reasonable consideration and using threatening

and abusive words. The 22-year-old was due

to be sentenced today, but it was postponed

pending her appeal. The number of road traffic

collisions attended by firefighters in the capital

is at a five-year high. New figures released today

by the London Fire Brigade show crews are attending 12 per cent more

crashes on our roads than last year. Fire chiefs say drivers falling

asleep at the wheel and distractions inside people's cars are a major

cause of accidents. A record number of children have

missed out on their first choice primary School 28,000 children have

been moved to a choice further down. It is said that poorer children are

more likely to be affected. This little baby girl from Surrey

is one of the youngest patients in the world to survive

major abdominal surgery. Abiageal Peters was born

four months early - Doctors at St George's Hospital

in Tooting performed an operation on her at six days old -

and now her parents have finally They've been speaking

to Ayshea Buksh. It was like a crash. We knew she

wouldn't survive if she didn't have surgery. We knew that she might not

survive surgery but definitely she wouldn't survive without it. We

waited in this at room for three hours. Surgical staff had never

operated before on a baby who was that premature and so young. Her

tissues were so fragile. Her skin and her tissues were jelly-like. If

you hold them, she would start to bleed. A baby that size has very

little blood circulating volume, so you can't afford any blood loss. The

operation was a success and after four months, recovering in the

neonatal ward, her parents have finally been able to take her home.

To be so small and go through all that and survive, she's an absolute

miracle. She's been doing brilliantly and we've been to treat

her like a normal newborn. She's not on monitors or oxygen or anything

but you are still wondering all the time, is she still breathing? She's

had a lot of hurdles in her short life so far but she seems to have

passed with flying colours. For the hospital, it may be a first but

Abigail's parents are just delighted that every day she is getting

stronger. Still to come this

Wednesday evening - We meet the first woman ever to

become a full-time chorister at the cathedral.

And in weather, after a after a damp end to the day and it becomes

very windy overnight and first thing tomorrow.

But, at least, tomorrow we're going to see the sunshine

Join me for the full forecast later on.

At a river crossing in a village in Buckinghamshire,

police are checking the weight of vehicles.

For six weeks - any that are too heavy trying to drive over

Marlow Bridge will be turned around by police.

From then on - drivers whose cars are over three tonnes -

to put that into context, that could be a four-by-four

will be issued with a fifty pound fine.

Van after van, car after car, being turned around at Marlow Bridge

this morning for exceeding the three tonne weight limits.

The last half an hour, there's been 13.

It's part of a police operation, after a 37

tonne lorry got stuck trying to cross the bridge in September.

The resulting damage and subsequent testing

meant that the bridge was shut for two months.

Whilst some drivers wanted to cross Marlow

Bridge today were blatantly in excess of the three tonne weight

that they weren't breaking the rules.

Many are confused as to the maximum gross weight of their

vehicle, that's the capacity of the vehicle,

This car could be overweight if it was full of passengers, yes.

But I know that it's not overweight at the moment.

I know it's not oversized at the moment.

I'm afraid you're too heavy to go over the bridge.

Well, I looked up the weight of my car and it's under three tonnes.

Do you mind just turning left here and

will clarify, then were not just blocking the road up.

And I think it's about 2.5 tonnes, Max.

Last autumn's bridge closure cost businesses in the town

dearly and the re-routed traffic caused long tailbacks on the a 404,

affecting thousands of drivers daily.

This is an excellent bridge. It's very old.

And the idea of the weight limit is to try and reduce

The regular wear and tear on the bridge.

What this operation is after is stopping

the overweight vehicles, so we do keep

the wear and tear down and that For the next six weeks,

police will be stopping overweight vehicles from crossing Marlow Bridge

but, in future, drivers who ignored the limit will have

to pay a ?50 fine. Tonight one of London oldest

football clubs is facing Leyton Orient have been served

with a winding up order It's left fans anxious

over the club's future. Chris Slegg has been

following developments and joins us from their ground now,

what are you hearing? We are not hearing much at all from

the club. Our repeated requests this afternoon for an interview have been

declined. They are not even going to release a statement. The fans want

to hear from the owner as to whether he can get them out of a financial

mess. The owner, Francesco Becchetti bought the club from former owner

Barry Hearn. Since then, it's been a disaster and the club have been

relegated to League 2 and they are in danger of being relegated from

the league altogether. For the first time. They have received this

winding up order. They aren't you to appear in court. A long way down the

road, it could lead to liquidation. Very worrying fans for fans. With me

now is Dave Knight from the fans just. What are you trying to do?

We've organised an emergency meeting for tomorrow. We're hoping that we

can come together to discuss the plight we are in. At that meeting we

hope to launch a regeneration fund so that we have got a pool of money

that will help us to talk to a potential new owner or go towards

forming a kind of Phoenix club. You believe that the football league

should have a more stringent look into the background of owners before

they take over. Late nori and isn't alone in having an ownership issue

at the moment. Clubs like commentary -- Coventry and Blackpool. We would

like to see if there is something they can do to bring our community

football clubs under better control. You are getting plans in place for a

potential Phoenix club. That shows how worried you are. It's not

something we want to do. We want to see our club carry on as it is now

but do better in the football league. We'd like the club to

continue and we welcome talking to new owners of people who would like

to invest. It is a fine community football club. A very big part of my

life and many others. We would love to hear from some people. The leader

of Waltham Forest Council says it would like to see the owner stand up

to his responsibilities. Registration's opened for this

year's Ride London event. The cycling equivalent

of the London Marathon Thousands will take

to the roads around the capital and folow the 100 mile route

into Surrey this summer. There's a shorter course

- of just 46 miles - for young riders and

newcomers, including the two-time olympic boxing

champion Nicola Adams. It shows that you don't have to be

a cyclist to join in. Anybody that knows how to ride

a bike can just get on, come down, join in and take part

in the 46 miles. St Paul's Cathedral

has appointed its first full-time female chorister -

the only woman in a thousand Cariss Jones was unanimously chosen

by clergymen because of her So let's hear it -

because Louisa Preston This is an amazing achievement. The

first female full-time chorister at Saint Pauls in 1000 years. How does

it feel? Completely overwhelming. I couldn't be more thrilled and more

delighted. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to sing in this building

with these amazing people. I would imagine that you're hoping that your

appointment here would inspire other women? Absolutely. I think it's a

really important moment. I have every hope that more women will be

able to sing in the building and that these positions will continue

to be open to everyone. This is actually quite different to

what you've been doing over the past ten years. You've been travelling

around the world singing, you have been on the Harry Potter films and

the Hobbit films. Tell me about that? The very normal but slightly

abnormal life of a freelance musician. You go where the work is.

I've been really fortunate to do these things all over the years.

I've enjoyed being part of films. But I'm looking forward to the

routine of being attached to one institution. Obviously, you are

heavily pregnant. How are you going to juggle children and this

full-time job? It's working OK with my toddler so far. Like most working

mums, I have to juggle. Can I just ask you to sing once more? Sure.

# Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...

# That saved a wretch like me. # I once... #.

What a voice. Congratulations to her. Quite an achievement. From high

culture to weather, how about that? We start with a lovely view from

today. The day that whether people call the

first day of spring. There wasn't much like spring today. It clouded

over, light rain clearing two showers this evening. Take a look at

the wind speeds. Edging up all through the night. It really will

become quite gusty through the night. It may wake you up earlier

than you'd want. A cold wind when we are out and about tomorrow. When

it's at its strongest, we could see ghosts of 40 mph. Before the winter

just eases a little as we get deeper into the day. -- gusts. Tomorrow,

dry and we will see much more sunshine into the afternoon compared

to today. Temperature is a little bit higher as well. Out of the

breeze and in the sunshine, it's going to feel quite pleasant.

Tomorrow evening, a bit more cloud coming our way. The chance of a

passing shower. Into Friday morning, another area of low pressure coming

our way and it is going to produce this on Friday morning. It is going

to be a wet start. Winds aren't going to be as strong. Beginning to

ease as we go into the afternoon. Temperatures around 10-11 .

Temperatures that level through the weekend. It isn't going to rain all

the time but there will be rain at times. Sunshine will be at a

premium. The government has been defeated

over the Brexit bill. The Lords voted to amend

the legislation to protect the rights of EU citizens living

in the UK. It's a setback for the bill

to trigger article 50 which signals the start of the formal process

of the UK leaving the EU. President Trump has used his first

speech to Congress to declare And from today drivers

caught using mobile phones Offenders will now be

fined two hundred pounds More from us in our late

news at ten thirty. You can always keep across stories

on our website or join Thanks for watching

and have a lovely evening. I think my political beliefs are

really quite straightforward. I believe that our country needs to

work for everyone. Not just for the rich,

not just for the privileged, not just for those who know

the right people or who've got the loudest voices, but a country

that really works for everyone, has the opportunity to be

who they want to be. In order to make sure that the

country works for everyone, Standing up for the vulnerable,

for the voiceless, against those who feel that they're

strong and powerful. If you're doing the right thing,

then you must do that however difficult it is, even if there seems

to be an easier path to take. you need to have a vision as to what

you want to do, but above that,