02/06/2017 London News

Good evening, I'm Alice Bhandhukravi.

The parents of a nine-month-old baby, Charlie Gard, say

they will keep fighting to get him experimental treatment

Charlie has a rare genetic condition and is being kept on life support

by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The Supreme Court will hear the case next week.

The High Court and the Court of Appeal have backed the hospital

who say his life support should be withdrawn.

Charlie Gard is fighting for his life.

A rare condition has led to severe brain damage, life support,

But speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire programme

today his parents say he is still fighting.

He is putting on weight, his hair is growing and,

as I say, he is still stable and he is still fighting away.

He has not done what they said he would do,

After raising the money online they want to take their son

to the United States for experimental treatment yet to be

It's an oral medication, it's a powder that goes into his milk,

And if there was an invasive treatment for a three-month period

that was going to seriously harm him and is causing pain, then I don't

But for consultants here at Great Ormond Street the therapy

being proposed is experimental and would not help and it doesn't

reverse the effects of structural brain damage and that life support

is merely prolonging the process of dying for Charlie.

It is for these reasons they are refusing to let him go.

This conflict has played itself out in the legal system.

A High Court judge and the Appeals Court have sided

with the Great Ormond Street that palliative care was

But next week the Supreme Court will decide if there are grounds

So making this decision the court will be looking

They will be looking at Charlie's right to life,

it will be looking at his parents' views and their right

It will also be looking at the views of his doctors

This is a medication that is not going to harm him in anyway.

It is widely accepted it has not got side effects, he is fit to fly,

let us take our son to a hospital that wants to save his life.

If the court decides against Charlie's life support

is due to be turned off at midnight that day.

It's a key election battleground, the future of the NHS.

In a moment we'll look at what the political parties

But first, what are the growing challenges

This is a process that hasn't changed much over the years and nor,

it seems, have the frustrations of the capital's GPs.

NEWSREEL: Pathe News visit a doctor in a north London borough who shares

with his two partners a large and mainly working-class practice.

Fast forward to today and listen to the views

of Adrian Richardson, a GP for 30 years.

His Willesden practice nearly shut last year as partners

left and the workload and paperwork increased.

Over this period of a year these things crept up on us.

It was like rolling down a hill and thinking,

I can escape the ravine ahead, but the ravine is coming

So we lost two partners or three partners and we also lost a number

of clinical and administrative staff as well.

Across London nearly half of GP practices

have a doctor who will retire in the next few years.

For years and years, particularly in London,

they have been underfunded and just about managing.

For the last two years we have seen a dramatic decline in people's

morale and their willingness and ability to actually manage.

If primary care is finding it hard, the battle over the future

Across the capital there are a five-year plans for the future,

many involve changing or closing services.

We are seeing rationing and in some cases complete withdrawal

of certain NHS services, Ambulance Services, A closures,

And we are seeing levels of understaffing which means that

wards are struggling to keep their patients safe.

This protest in Hammersmith reflects many across the capital,

but experts say there may be more pain to come for London's NHS.

The gap between what London needs to treat its growing population

who have increasing expectations and for whom we can do more

The parties are all pledging additional money

None of these go anywhere near closing that gap.

If the money isn't forthcoming, changes to services may well be.

Well, our reporter Helen Drew joins me in the studio now to

talk about the NHS and inevitably the issue of money comes up.

Yes. All parties are promising more money for the NHS. Independent

survey say Labour is promising more than the Lib Dems and more than the

Conservatives. Regiment everyone in the NHS says no one is promising

enough to cope with the current funding gaps. In London alone every

year ?18 billion is spent on the NHS. Health bosses say if they carry

on doing everything as they are at the moment, in four years' time

there will be a gap of ?4 billion in finances. That is before they have

rebuilt or repaired any hospitals. It is not just about funding, is it?

It is about moving things like accident and emergency. There is a

campaign in south-west London. It is about moving maternity services.

Clinicians will always say or provide a better service for

patients. Critics will say it is only happening because of a shortage

of funding. We'll be hearing more about this. It will not end when the

election does. That's it for now from me,

but lets find out what the weather's Today there were thunderstorms. They

have gone and it is leaving a legacy of humid air. A humid start to

Saturday. If you have an event, a wedding, whatever which involves the

outdoors but this is the forecast you have been praying for. Still a

rather closed 22 will soak in the heart of the capital. If you're

stepping out Saturday evening, a fresher feel come the end of the

night. Sunday, again, is shaping up to be a decent day for many areas.

Perhaps cloud developing as we get on through the afternoon. A fresher

feel marked by temperatures round about 20 degrees. Watch out for

Monday for the starting dry and ending up wet and windy. Good

evening. The weekend is upon us and actually for many places it is

looking pretty good. Try whether to be had and also sunshine. There are

showers in the forecast. Low pressure in the north Atlantic

trying to push in fresher air behind. This weather front is

pushing into East Anglia and the South East. It started to spark of

some thunderstorms during the afternoon and into beeping.

Torrential downpours in