:00:14. > :00:19.the programme tonight: Patients spending too long in A&E.
:00:19. > :00:23.The hospitals where more than one in ten waited longer than four hours.
:00:23. > :00:25.More on that and the rest of the day's news with Janine Machin.
:00:25. > :00:29.Finding the right formula - a Cambridge MP argues for science to
:00:29. > :00:32.be pushed up the Government's agenda.
:00:32. > :00:36.The fitness instructor from Haverill jailed after attacking a judge in
:00:36. > :00:46.court. And, hidden history - the Bronze Age
:00:46. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:55.boats preserved for posterity in wetland just outside Peterborough.
:00:55. > :00:58.Good evening. First tonight, the hospital Accident and Emergency
:00:58. > :01:05.departments where more than one in ten patients aren't being dealt with
:01:05. > :01:07.quickly enough. Two of our hospitals are falling significantly short of
:01:07. > :01:11.Government targets for A&E waiting times.95% of people should be seen
:01:11. > :01:14.within four hours, but in one week last month, figures from NHS England
:01:14. > :01:17.show that only 88.5% of patients were seen in time at the Queen
:01:17. > :01:19.Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn and it was a similar figure in
:01:20. > :01:29.Kettering, where only 88.3% of patients were seen within four
:01:30. > :01:33.
:01:33. > :01:36.hours. Earlier I spoke to the Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter.
:01:36. > :01:42.Kettering General Hospital has spent the last 12 months almost constantly
:01:42. > :01:45.in the headlines. The future of the hospital was the focus of the last
:01:45. > :01:50.year's by-election, but it is their performance which has butted in the
:01:50. > :01:53.spotlight. Last year, it was put on red alert after a damning report by
:01:53. > :01:57.the health care regulator, which highlighted the hospital's
:01:57. > :01:59.persistent failure to meet waiting time targets and criticised
:02:00. > :02:06.financial management. These latest figures again show Kettering has
:02:06. > :02:11.fallen way below the target for A&E waiting times. The hospital is not
:02:11. > :02:17.doing enough. We have still got this problem. The hospital does realise
:02:17. > :02:23.it has more to do and it has made its top priority. It has political
:02:23. > :02:27.support from MPs. They are trying to get extra investment into the A&E.
:02:27. > :02:32.The management here at Kettering General Hospital did not want to
:02:32. > :02:35.speak to us today, but did provide us with a statement in which they
:02:35. > :02:40.say they are embarking on a transformation programme. They say
:02:40. > :02:45.they are working closely with local GPs to find better ways to refer
:02:45. > :02:49.patients to the hospital without using a and E. They also say they
:02:49. > :02:54.are looking at better ways to move patients through the hospital and to
:02:54. > :02:58.make the A&E department itself more efficient. Bosses also hope this
:02:58. > :03:02.place, the urgent care centre, will play its part in reducing waiting
:03:02. > :03:07.times. Many believe the pressure on A&E departments will only be
:03:07. > :03:11.relieved when the public realise there are alternatives. Now we know
:03:11. > :03:16.that most practices, pharmacies, have all set themselves up to be
:03:16. > :03:20.able to give people advice at the right level, and is much more timely
:03:20. > :03:24.and convenient, and more friendly. Kettering is by no means alone in
:03:24. > :03:27.its struggle to meet targets. Kings Lynn is also ranked as one of the
:03:27. > :03:31.poorest performing hospitals in the country. We have not given patients
:03:31. > :03:36.as good an experience as they should have had. However, I know that we
:03:36. > :03:40.provide safe care and that we endeavour every day to make sure
:03:40. > :03:44.that patients get treatment as quickly as possible. These figures
:03:44. > :03:48.reflect the last week in May. In that time, Northampton General
:03:48. > :03:57.scored 98%. But, figures over the first quarter of this year, showed
:03:57. > :04:05.that Northampton failed to meet targets. It is better news here
:04:05. > :04:09.where it has cut waiting times. Nationally, the A&E performers is
:04:09. > :04:13.said to be the worst in nine years. I asked Dan Poulter what the
:04:13. > :04:18.government put that figure down to. What we know from these figures is
:04:18. > :04:22.that the NHS has had a difficult winter. We have had problems with
:04:22. > :04:26.flu and bouts of difficult weather, which has made it difficult for
:04:26. > :04:30.staff to get into work, and also has meant that older people have been
:04:31. > :04:35.falling over, having breaks and bumps and strains. That has put a
:04:35. > :04:42.lot of pressure on them. Having said that, the last five weeks back
:04:42. > :04:47.contract and ten 1-macro is performing well and back on target.
:04:47. > :04:51.At Kettering general, they say that they have seen the number of people
:04:51. > :04:54.visiting A&E double over the last 20 years. That is not down to one bad
:04:54. > :04:59.winter. You has to wonder whether the service has been underfunded for
:04:59. > :05:03.too long. The current government is committed to putting more money into
:05:03. > :05:09.the NHS, but in Kettering there has been a considerable population
:05:09. > :05:11.growth. The big challenge for the NHS has been this increase of 1
:05:12. > :05:21.million additional patients. A lot of those patients are frail, elderly
:05:22. > :05:22.
:05:23. > :05:26.people with complex medical needs. A lot of discharge without any
:05:26. > :05:32.treatment because a lot of young families find it difficult to access
:05:32. > :05:35.GPs in the evening and end up turning up at A&E. Part of the
:05:35. > :05:40.solution is to address this problem and have wider access to GPs, and
:05:40. > :05:44.more GPs in the NHS in years going ahead. It is also about having a
:05:44. > :05:49.more joined up approach for older people and making sure we are better
:05:49. > :05:53.able to look after older people with complex needs. Is there a danger
:05:53. > :05:56.here that the message we are giving to the members of the public is that
:05:56. > :06:00.accident and emergency departments are struggling so please don't turn
:06:00. > :06:04.up there, we have had problems with ambulance response times throughout
:06:04. > :06:08.the region, we know that the out of hours GP service is not functioning
:06:08. > :06:12.as well as it should, nor is the nonemergency 111 line. Is there a
:06:12. > :06:16.danger that people will die because they simply don't know what to do?
:06:16. > :06:20.What we do know is that when people turn up at A&E, medical
:06:21. > :06:26.professionals always look after the patients in front of them and
:06:26. > :06:31.prioritise the sickest patients first. Thanks to action that I took
:06:31. > :06:36.and Norman Lamb the social care minister has taken, we now have a
:06:36. > :06:38.thorough review of the and events service and we will see some
:06:38. > :06:42.improvements and additional resources put into the front line.
:06:42. > :06:45.In terms of reforming the NHS and improving the delivery of
:06:45. > :06:49.high-quality care, there is no silver bullet. It will take a number
:06:49. > :06:53.of years to get our servers where we needed to be, which is making sure
:06:53. > :06:59.we keep people better supported in their homes, in their communities,
:06:59. > :07:01.so they don't have to turn up to A&E in a state of great distress.
:07:01. > :07:05.Britain will "sabotage its future" if it doesn't boost investment in
:07:05. > :07:07.science, according to a Cambridge MP. In a special Commons debate
:07:07. > :07:16.Julian Huppert called on the Government to ring-fence a budget
:07:16. > :07:21.for science projects in order to protect the industry.
:07:21. > :07:26.Launched on a Russian rocket only yesterday, another communication
:07:26. > :07:32.satellites built in Stevenage. Silverstone is not only the home of
:07:32. > :07:36.Formula one, but it is also a hub of technology and innovation. And,
:07:36. > :07:42.Cambridge, with Alnwick University receiving more EU funding than any
:07:42. > :07:47.other in the country. Tonight, Cambridge's MP will call for more
:07:48. > :07:51.money for scientific research in this region. Nobody when they
:07:51. > :07:54.started work on the World Wide Web or the like would have known where
:07:54. > :07:58.that would lead, but all of these are transformational William dollar
:07:58. > :08:03.issues which have made a huge difference for the whole of the East
:08:03. > :08:07.of England. This Institute in Cambridge is a biotech world leader.
:08:07. > :08:13.They say the MP has a point. problem we have at the moment is
:08:13. > :08:18.that the funding for the last spending review gave a flat line
:08:18. > :08:22.funding over a certain period of time. Inflation in the machines were
:08:22. > :08:30.used to carry out research is gradually eroding that sum of
:08:30. > :08:37.money. The government's technology strategy board invested �26.4
:08:37. > :08:43.million in the last year. That reached 1450 organisations. They say
:08:43. > :08:48.the result was a �184 million boost to the local economy. In terms of
:08:48. > :08:50.the big names, they don't come much bigger than that. That is
:08:50. > :08:57.Microsoft's new European headquarters here in Cambridge.
:08:57. > :09:03.Soon, another global pharmaceutical company will move their headquarters
:09:03. > :09:07.here, creating 600 new jobs. So, do we need more government money? If
:09:07. > :09:13.you have a mobile phone, chances are one of this company's chips is in
:09:13. > :09:17.it. They say investment and education are key. Part of it is the
:09:17. > :09:20.government creating the right environment for technology
:09:20. > :09:24.companies, and also education. We are very keen to see the next
:09:24. > :09:30.generation of engineers, the next generation of entrepreneurs capable
:09:30. > :09:33.of coming up with innovative ideas. This high-tech centre has a first
:09:33. > :09:38.for knowledge and innovation, but that can cost.
:09:38. > :09:40.A new Chief Constable is about to be named for Bedfordshire. Colette Paul
:09:40. > :09:44.has been selected by the county's Police and Crime Commissioner to
:09:44. > :09:47.take over the force. Today, the Police and Crime Panel has been
:09:47. > :09:55.putting her through her paces, as our home affairs correspondent Sally
:09:55. > :09:59.Chidzoy reports. Colette Paul, the current Deputy
:09:59. > :10:04.Chief Constable of South Wales and Beds police and crime commission
:10:04. > :10:07.once her to be his next Chief Constable. First, they had to face
:10:07. > :10:12.the new Police and Crime Panel of councillors before his toys can be
:10:12. > :10:16.confirmed and she can get to work. Colette Paul is a former
:10:16. > :10:23.Metropolitan Police and CID detective. The meeting ran late into
:10:23. > :10:25.the afternoon. It is not quite a grilling, but members of the police
:10:26. > :10:29.and crime panel are asking Colette Paul a number of questions right
:10:29. > :10:33.now. She said she has worked around the world and had extensive
:10:33. > :10:37.experience of dealing with diverse communities. When asked what she
:10:38. > :10:42.would bring to all neighbourhoods in Beds, she said she would have an
:10:42. > :10:45.effective rural crime strategy. When asked what would be her biggest
:10:46. > :10:50.challenge, she replied operational and that she was aware of all the
:10:50. > :10:53.shootings in looting and I would be a critical piece of work. There have
:10:53. > :10:58.been ten shootings in Luton so far this year as police work to stem the
:10:58. > :11:03.violence. The police and crime panel has the power to veto the implements
:11:03. > :11:07.of a Chief Constable, but that is unlikely to happen. She spoke for a
:11:07. > :11:10.while, but has real challenge will be on delivery. She has got some
:11:10. > :11:20.challenges in Luton, and also the pressures of finances that overture
:11:20. > :11:24.is facing. -- Beds. She awaits official confirmation that she has
:11:24. > :11:27.got the job. A man has been charged with
:11:27. > :11:29.preventing the burial of two men whose bodies were found in ditches
:11:29. > :11:32.in remote parts of Cambridgeshire. Leslie Layton, from Orton Goldhay in
:11:32. > :11:35.Peterborough, has been charged in connection with the deaths of Kevin
:11:35. > :11:38.Lee and John Chapman. He's due to appear before Peterborough
:11:38. > :11:42.magistrates tomorrow. Two other men and a woman have already been
:11:42. > :11:44.charged in relation to both the deaths, as well as that of a third
:11:44. > :11:47.man, Lukasz Slaboszewski. Police investigating a shooting in
:11:47. > :11:51.Luton have arrested a 21-year-old man. The shooting happened on
:11:51. > :11:56.Fountain's Road on May fifth. Today's arrest is the third in
:11:56. > :12:02.connection with the incident. One man has already been charged with
:12:02. > :12:05.attempted murder and a firearms offence in connection with the case.
:12:05. > :12:09.A fitness instructor from Haverhill who attacked a judge, knocking off
:12:09. > :12:14.his wig, has been jailed for 18 months for contempt of court. Paul
:12:14. > :12:23.Graham assaulted Judge John Devaux at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday.
:12:23. > :12:28.Today, his behaviour was described as insulting and intimidating.
:12:28. > :12:33.I think it says that the judge is saying, "you can't do this, and if
:12:33. > :12:37.you do, it is a very slippery slope in respect of respect for the law in
:12:37. > :12:41.this country" . He has to send out this powerful message that this