06/02/2018 London News

weather website and by attacking the

BBC weather app. Very snazzy new

graphics, Sarah,

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Katharine Carpenter.

A man from Essex who waited more

than 13 hours for an ambulance

after suffering a stroke has raised

concerns that his case wasn't

going to be investigated

until he complained.

The East of England Ambulance

Service said it was "under severe

pressure" that day and always tries

to prioritise the most

life-threatening calls.

Nikki Fox reports.

Home from hospital,

building site manager

David Axford is on the mend,

but feels let down by

what he went through.

He just said he had

an excruciating headache,

and he was literally just,

you know, with his head, he just

kept laying down all the time,

he couldn't really stand up.

I was telling them, you know,

that I couldn't feel my legs.

You know, she'd phoned and said

I'd had a nose bleed.

His eyes were a bit blurry,

he was slurring, he started to lose

the feeling in his legs,

they went a bit tingly.

He had pains on his spine,

at the base of his back.

They were told a paramedic

would be sent.

They thought they'd get

a response within 15 minutes.

They kept trying to reassure me,

the ambulance is coming,

the ambulance is coming.

And then he's obviously

starting to get stressed.

So it's making it much worse,

the pain in his head and everything.

And he actually said at one stage

he felt like his head

was going to explode.

That was lunchtime.

What they didn't know -

the Trust was under severe pressure,

with more than 4,000 calls.

They decided it needed

a two-hour response.

But by the evening,

the Axfords were still waiting.

Four times they dialled 999.

David's wife was even asked

to take him to hospital,

but couldn't lift him.

He thought he was going to die.

I did, yeah.

Yes, I thought he was going to die.

That was the hardest part.

Face, has it fallen on one side?

Just last week, an NHS campaign

highlighted the urgency of calling

999 after signs of a stroke.

David's ambulance finally turned up

13 hours later, at 3:30am.

His prognosis is good,

but his eyesight's worsened and his

driving licence is withdrawn.

Something somewhere is going

wrong with the system.

And obviously it does need

seriously looking at,

because I could have been sitting

on my own.

Until he complained,

David's case wasn't even one

of the 40 under investigation.

Proof the Christmas delays may

well be more widespread

than first thought.

Nikki Fox, BBC London News.

The row over

who should pay to remove cladding

similar to that used

on Grenfell Tower from a housing

complex in Croydon has gone

before a judge today.

Leaseholders at Citiscape have been

told they may have to pay up to 30

thousand pounds each to replace

the flammable material.

The property management company says

residents should also contribute

towards the cost of fire wardens.

GPs should be able to prescribe

e-cigarettes and hospitals should

sell them to help patients quit

smoking - that's the view

of Public Health England following

research by a London university.

Experts from Kings College London

were among those who contributed

to the independent review.

They have helped tens of thousands

of people quit smoking.

But currently in the UK,

people have to buy e-cigarettes,

unlike nicotine patches and gum.

Public Health England

want that to change,

and for doctors to start giving

e-cigarettes to patients

on prescription.

The latest evidence reviewed

suggests that although vaping

is not entirely risk-free,

it's much safer than smoking.

The organisation says

e-cigarettes are 95% safer

than regular cigarettes,

as they don't include most of

the toxic chemicals found in smoke.

Researchers estimate e-cigarettes

contribute to at least 20,000

successful new quits per year.

Despite their popularity,

around 40% of smokers

have not tried them.

Experts say the evidence

in favour is so compelling,

smokers who want to quit shouldn't

wait for free prescriptions before

trying e-cigarettes.

We are confident that they are

substantially less harmful

than cigarette smoking,

so we recommend that smokers

who are really struggling to stop

should try an e-cigarette,

and that might help them to stop

smoking, which would probably be

the best thing they can do

for their health.

In the meantime, Public Health

England suggests hospitals start

selling e-cigarettes to patients,

and change smoking shelters

into vaping lounges.

But they also warn that non-smokers

shouldn't start vaping.

Michelle Roberts, BBC News.

When women were given the vote

for the first time 100 years ago

it was of course a big moment

in the fight for women's rights.

But a century on there is still

inequality when it comes to things

like pay and opportunities.

Steph McGovern has been to meet

women at different stages

of their careers in the capital

to hear about their experiences.

Making your way up in the world

is still not as easy as it

should be for women.

But there are more and more

breaking down the barriers.

Katie is an award-winning

crane driver.

I've come to meet her with Lois,

an apprentice in building

services, and Katherine,

a structural engineer.

You're all working in an industry

that's male-dominated.

Does that bother you, Katie?

It doesn't bother me as such.

I think if anything,

it gives you slightly more leverage.

There's a stereotype out

there about engineers being always

a male with a beard and a hard

hat and high-vis.

But in reality, most of the time I'm

wearing a dress and working

at my desk doing calculations,

doing drawings and working

on computer software.

I feel like I'm listened to.

I'm treated the same

as everybody else.

It's great to hear their optimism.

But what about those a bit further

on in their careers?

Jennifer and Mina have

very different jobs,

but felt the same pressures

when they

had children.

There's guilt lurking

at every corner.

Guilt that you can't do your job

in the way in which you

want to do it, and guilt that you're

not there for your children.

I've got two children.

The first was fine.

The second...

I had my second, I worked

for the biggest international

law firm, and was made redundant

literally effectively on my first

day back at work.

And it...

It affected me mentally so badly.

And in fact, it became

so stressful for

me in the end that I set up own

business and left, so that I could

define my own working hours.

For anyone to get to

the top in business,

it takes a lot of graft.

So what about the few

women who have made it?

Do they think they've had a harder

time because they're a woman?

It takes courage almost every day

to speak out and speak up for gender

balance and gender equality.

Let's do this together.

Let's get men being the biggest

voices, the strongest

voices for getting gender

equality up there.

And that's the only

way I think we're

going to do it.

Back on the construction site,

I definitely feel like these young

women are being given more

opportunities than they would

have done in the past.

So, that should mean in future

we won't need to make a special film

about women doing jobs like these,

or running companies,

because it won't be unusual.

Now let's go over to

Kate for the forecast

and a new look to the weather.

Same old me but new graphics.

Good afternoon.

Well, once again we woke up

to a very cold start this morning

and a little bit of frost.

Patchier than it was yesterday.

We saw temperatures hovering

above zero in some spots

and below in others.

Had a bit of cloud as well,

but the clouds significantly

broke up very quickly.

Then we had some decent blue sky.

Some cloud is rolling in now, but

fairly high, so the sunshine is

hazy.

Temperatures will not be too great.

We expect one or two wintry showers,

mainly towards the east.

We will still see some sunshine, the

showers in the East blowing through.

Sunshine to the West, temperatures

getting up to five.

This evening and overnight, the Met

Office has issued a yellow weather

warning for further snow showers and

some ice. This will continue into

dawn tomorrow. Showers affecting all

areas, you could get a light dusting

anywhere but towards the morning

perhaps heavier snow towards the

east. It will clear by dawn,

temperatures dropping to zero or

below. Tomorrow morning, if we have

cloud around, it will clear fairly

quickly to some brights and gym.

Blue sky tomorrow, can't see too

much cloud, looking up blue sky

throughout. Temperature is still

looking rather cold. Towards the end

of the week, temperatures gradually

start to climb, especially towards

the weekend as we pick up a slightly

milder south-westerly breeze into

Thursday. Back to you.

That's about it from me.

Riz Lateef will be here

with our 6:30pm evening programme.

But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.

Goodbye.