05/02/2014 Look East - West

rise. That is

Hello and welcome to Look East. In the programme tonight. Doctors fear

for the future of Bedford Hospital and warn that patients may have to

travel elsewhere for care. Tackling the rise in obesity, but which of

our towns boasts the biggest waistlines? The aftermath of the

Ashes humiliation. Gooch gives the lowdown on Pietersen

and Graham Gooch on Kevin Pietersen and

Alastair Cook. And the mobile phone game that means you can help hunt

for cancer cures while you play Good evening. Bedford Hospital is

facing another serious risk according to the people that run it.

The threat that's concerning them is a new contract to provide services

for people with bone and muscular problems. There are fears it might

mean services shifting away from Bedford, raising questions about the

hospitals future. But the people behind the contract say it's a fuss

about nothing. This is a ward where a patient

needing treatment such as a hip replacement is currently treated but

the contract to manage the services has been provisionally awarded to

circle health, whose job will be to provide treatment to patients in

Beds. But doctors here say if they signed up to the contract it could

lead to financial shortfalls... If the contract contains clauses

that lay a significant clinical or, financial risk, at our door,

particularly the financial risk it will have major implications for not

only the muscular skull lethal service in the hospital but

potentially other services `` skeletal, because no service stands

alone. This hospital is already in debt. If the contract means less is

paid per patient per treatment the fear is it could undermine financial

stability at the hospital and threaten the future of services The

commissioning group says the new contract will not mean less money

being paid. Bedford Hospital have been offered a contract on the same

terms they have now to provide these services. Are they going to provide

them? I do not know, they have been asked to. Could people find

themselves going to Luton and Dunstable? Absolutely not. Under the

constitution, they have choice. Why are they concerned? I am not sure, I

do not understand why they are making a fuss. For the hospital it

is not a fuss about nothing, they say it is about safeguarding

services and its future. The concerns expressed by the

doctors at Bedford Hospital go to the heart of the dilemma facing the

NHS, that local hospitals face downgrading or even closure if some

services are taken elsewhere. Earlier I spoke to a Professor at

the University of Bedfordshire. He told me patients may just have to

get used to going further afield to get the best specialist care.

I think that in this country, if we want to have high quality and safe

care for every speciality at local hospitals, we will have two pay more

for the NHS. If we keep the current system, some of us will have to

travel a bit further to access safe care, with the right staff. People

feel protective over their local hospital. They do, and I think, if I

make on the politicians could help with that because sometimes, I

think, politicians are known to overpromise and underdelivered. Are

you saying there is a lack of honesty and transparency when we

discuss the issue? We could do more to be more open and honest with the

public to say with the current funding pot, we want to deliver safe

services and we can only fund so many staff with so much equipment

and these services can not by definition be at every local

hospital. If you took it to the extreme, we could end up with a fuse

super hospitals, a few centres of excellence and every local hospital

being a shadow of itself or closing down. I do not think we would reach

that point. It is right where we have centres of excellence, they

should be located in geographical areas where by as many people can

access them as possible. At local level we should have diagnostic

services so that people can be examined quickly and then referred

to specialist centres. What would your message be to patients and

staff at Bedford Hospital, who are concerned about what might happen?

All members of the public and staff should keep safety and quality

paramount in any service provision. What we want to ensure is we have

the right staff and skills offering services. We should not always

prioritise location. Another gangmaster has been charged

by the police after an investigation into migrant labour in the Fens The

Gangmasters Licensing Authority has also revealed today why it revoked

the registration of a second gangmaster. This is Martin slender,

the latest gang master facing a criminal charge, accused of

supplying workers in contravention of licensing laws. The BBC carried

out an investigation into the exploitation of migrant workers from

Eastern Europe and 13 people were arrested. Today, the authority

revealed why it stopped the business of another man, who was the boss of

a company `` operator. The authority said it found it did not pay the

national minimum wage and had on safe accommodation and vehicles

said it found it did not pay the national minimum wage and had It

also had drivers over the drink drive limit. This man is not facing

criminal charges and denies wrongdoing. Always, we paid

properly, never less than the minimum. Transport, accommodation

that we supply, it helps them. Martin slender will appear before

magistrates in a fortnight. The jury is still considering its

verdict in the trial of two men accused of assisting a serial

killer. Joanna Dennehy has admitted to murdering three men and dumping

their bodies in ditches around Peterborough. Leslie Layton is seen

here filling a fuel can, which the court was told he used to burn out

one of the victim's car. He's also accused of helping to dump the

bodies, along with Gary Stretch seen here in the green. Both men deny the

charges. The number of people in our region

who are classed as overweight or obese is on the increase. While that

might not surprise you, this figure just might. A national table shows

that in some towns more than three quarters of people fall into that

category. In this region Milton Keynes is topping the list. Emma

Baugh has more details. Today for the first time, nationwide data is

being released to show the true extent of what's being called our

obesity crisis. Topping the list in our region is Milton Keynes with

more than 72% of the population being classed as overweight ` that's

more than seven in ten people. That's followed by Corby and

Wellingborough with a figure of more than 70 per cent. Central

Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire ` figures there coming in at 69. But

at the other end of the scale, the areas where the fewest number of

people are seen as overweight is in Cambridge at 54% of the population.

And Luton at 59. In Milton Keynes, one man has lost seven and a half

stone to help change his lifestyle. The main reason was work. I kept

awake and plus the way I looked I did not want to look like an

elephant all the time, I wanted to look normal and wear normal clothes

and I feel better for doing it. But what does it mean to be seen as

overweight? The figures are based on body mass index. The calculation is

your weight in kilograms, divided by your height in metres. Generally,

doctors say the higher your BMI the greater your risk of medical

problems. But BMI is a rough guide only. It can't distinguish whether

the weight is fat or muscle so for instance athletes can find

themselves classed as obese. Exercise is seen as a major weapon

in the fight against obesity. In parts of our region GPs can refer

patients to gyms for cut price sessions instead of giving them a

prescription. It has been incredibly successful. Over the past three

years I have seen over 80% of the people who take part complete their

12 weeks make a reduction to their weight loss and we have had a number

of clients who have lost upwards of two stone, three stone in weight, by

taking part and having the support so that they know what they do will

benefit them. But obesity is a problem that's not likely to get

better soon. It's been predicted that by 2050, at least half of us

will be classed as obese. The developers of a warehouse

destroyed by fire last month ignored advice to fit a sprinkler system. It

has emerged the Fire Service recommended sprinklers during the

planning process more than ten years ago. But there was no legal

requirement for them to be fitted. Senior fire officers now want a

change in the law. Firefighters arrived within minutes but it was

too late. It could not be saved The sprinkler system could have changed

the outcome. Sprinters would have protected firefighters and they

would have controlled the fire quicker. On this incident we were

there within four minutes and the fire was showing through the roof.

It would have been controlled earlier and resulted in less damage.

In October this factory was saved in the Keynes. The fire was

extinguished before firefighters arrived. In Newport Pagnol, 65

firefighters struggled to control the blaze. A warehouse contained

fridges and coolers and was destroyed. The Fire Service

recommended sprinklers were fitted back in 2000 one, during planning.

`` 2001. But the developer and business were under no legal

obligation. Sprinkler systems are only required in premise is larger

than 20,000 square metres. The Centre for economic sound business

research estimates there are almost 600 warehouse fires every year where

there are no sprinters and calculate the lost a business at over 200 ?30

million, with almost 1000 jobs lost as a result. Milton Keynes has more

than its fair share of warehouses and we have had incidents over the

years. When they happen there is a significant cost to the economy It

can be as little as ?2 per square metre to install the sprinklers The

Fire Service save the cost of not installing one is far greater.

In football, Stevenage won their League One match against Gillingham

last night to narrow the gap at the bottom of the table. The visitors

were reduced to ten men as they gave away this penalty for a handball.

Francois Zoko converting from the spot. It then became the Darius

Charles show as he scored twice to seal the points for Stevenage. They

remain at the bottom of League One, but are now just two points from

safety. The Highways Agency has withdrawn

proposals for improvements to the Spittals Interchange on the A14 at

Huntingdon. The plan would have seen the westbound slip road at junction

23 widened and lengthened. Originally they hoped the work would

be finished by next month. A celebration

still to come, the game for your mobile phone that its cutting`edge

research. And after the shambles in

Australia, the England cricket called on what went wrong in the

Ashes. This year about 50,000 young people

in this region will start an apprenticeship. Figures released

today show the number of places in this region and the number of

applicants are both going up. The official figures are taken after

the school summer holidays. Between 2012 and 2013 the number of

applications went up by nearly 10,000 across the Look East region.

In the same period the number of apprenticeship vacancies rose by

more than 600 to nearly 3,500. Our business correspondent Richard Bond

has this report. Our economy might be on the mend but youth

unemployment remains stubbornly high. One reason why the government

has been spending more on apprenticeships. But across the

economy there is a genuine need to train our young people. The East

Coast energy sector faces a huge skill shortage. The energy services

firm the sun has a training academy in great Yarmouth and in the past

year student numbers have gone up to 200. We have always had a base load

of oil and gas to fill the order book and what we are seeing now is a

very large increase for fuel and wind turbines technicians. Among the

pages as here, Angela Hawthorne. In her 30 of training with plenty of

prospects. I can go anywhere around the world. I could travel and that

would be carried out and testing installation work, commissioning as

necessary, as required. A lot of opportunities there. Apprenticeships

remain very much in demand. Over the past year applications in the region

have risen by 33% to 39,000. Access electronics is a high`tech employer

in Bedford, making printed circuit boards. They have doubled their

apprenticeship this year. Apprenticeships are with our

succession planning so we have new people coming through the business

trains to the standards required. Of `` all of our apprentices and join

us on a permanent contract and stay as part of our team going forward

and the number of apprentices now are in quite senior roles within the

business. I get to work out a proper electronics company, get a course

from the Company at the same time. I am an apprentice ambassador which

means I get to go to other schools and tell children, your 11, ten, 15,

the benefits of being an apprentice. Tell them there are other

opportunities rather than going to university. With an average of 12

applicants for every vacancy, the government urges many more employers

to come forward and offer apprenticeships.

And Richard is with me now. So there are more apprenticeships but still

nowhere near enough why not? I think that some firms view the whole

business on apprenticeships as too complex, too much red tape and they

don't want to know. Smaller companies may feel they are not big

enough to handle them. Maybe they don't have a personal apartment to

hold their hand. Some companies also make the wary of apprenticeships

because of a bad experience in the past 20 a lot of time into someone

and it has not paid off for the company. There are always firms that

prefer not to train at all and recruit or porch staff who have been

trained by other people. There are incentives for employers to take on

apprentices? If you take on an apprentice between the age of 16 and

18 the government should fully fund that the British. If you take on an

apprentice who is 19 or over then the government should fund half the

cost. The government is currently trying to revamp appendicectomy and

more user`friendly. Now cricket and it would be hard to

imagine how the England tour of Australia this winter could have

been much worse. Hammered in the Ashes hammered in the one days

hammered in the T20. The Australians called it a 'Pomnishambles'. Already

England have ditched their head coach Andy Flower, and their top

batsman Kevin Pietersen. But the man in charge of England's batting down

under was the Essex and England legend Graham Gooch and today he

spoke to Look East about defeat captain Alastair Cook and

Pietersen's shock sacking. A sponsored stay at the County

ground in Telstra, a far cry and welcome distraction for Graham

Gooch, after one of the longest and unhappy adulterers in English

cricket. The commitment to the cricket was not there. `` and

unhappiest tourers. In every department we wear lacking. We all

must bear the burden of responsibility. The Follett has been

considerable, the head coach has gone and one of the biggest stars of

the game, Kevin Pietersen, has been told he is no longer wanted. What

has he been led to manage in the dressing room?

Your Mac Kevin plays box office innings. He can be a match`winning

player. That is clear. He has supplied many innings like that. The

dressing room was fine but we did not perform. One man who has

captained Kevin Pietersen in the past is Jason Galleon, now a teacher

at Felsted School. Kevin as a batsmen could win games. Everyone

who supported England and who hasn't seen him play with like him play

with lichen to win games, I suppose that sometimes the manner he get out

in the way he gets out as part of his enigma. Is the unmanageable? He

is if he is not motivated. And with something like England he must be

motivated. If you are not motivated playing for your country you never

will be. The BBC understands that Alistair Cooke played an influential

role in the decision to end Kevin Pietersen 's international career.

Whether cooked remains captain is also a matter for debate. Alistair

is a proud man, he has been a wonderful player for England and has

many years hopefully in front of him. He has been a role model and is

very disappointed. More than disappointed. He is hurting bad. As

is everyone. How of the response from this? Many people are

questioning whether or not he should remain as captain. After the trip

England have had to Australia and everyone is questioning everyone's

position. Alistair is strong enough in mind to improve after this, I

think he should remain as captain. Graham Gooch told me he wanted to

remain at the back in court, determined his coaching career will

not be defined by the Ashes in the lesion. `` remain as a batting

coach. Was he hard to handle? A long pause!

Scientists in Cambridge have come up with a new idea for us to help them

find new treatments for cancer. They want you to download a new game and

play it on your smartphone. It's called 'genes in space' and

researchers at Cancer Research UK say that playing it will crunch the

numbers and analyse important data. We sent Mike Liggins to find out

more. This is the Cancer research UK

Institute in Cambridge. And this is the traditional image of Cancer

research. Scientists in white coats experimenting with cancer cells. But

these days effective cure for the disease is increasingly being fought

by computer scientists. We just do this and we have trained `` we have

traced... This is the new smartphone game, Genes In Space. It has been

created to help analyse the mass of data being produced. We have many

computers for doing this, but still, they have an accuracy of 90 or 95%.

What we're trying to do all of these machines and algorithms is trying to

look at each computer and teach them how to think like humans. The

question is, why do we need Apple, why doesn't one person do all the

analysis? The answer is it would take forever and be extremely

boring. So, you download the game and Maggie route through space. Only

this is real genetic data. The scientists need you to spot changes

in the data. You therefore in a spaceship on that road, finding

asteroids on the way in the information is sent back to Cancer

research UK. There are 46,000 sets of data and for accuracy the

scientists need each set to be analysed 50 times. Every two

minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer. Helen had

left cancer and with the chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a

mastectomy. Her mother died from breast cancer and she has two

daughters. Emily and Rebecca. My main concern is that by the time of

my daughters get to there are better cure is in better research available

or preventative measures or whatever it takes to ensure that they remain

well. Cancer research UK with like you to download the game. If you are

over the age of 40 you made need a young person to help you but it is

great fun and you might be helping any small way to find a cure for

cancer. There were some people in the studio

and make the someone younger! That explains it!

It all turns nasty last week, didn't it? Yes, some wet and windy weather.

We had a dry spell but then more bite and windy weather this

afternoon. These are the strongest gusts at her professional recording

stations. In Northampton, 54 mph. `` at our official recording stations.

We have a rush of showers coming in and then more to rattle on through.

Into this evening and overnight the showers should become few and far

between, but the sediment of dry weather with clear spells. The wind

is already starting to use down so for much of the evening we should

have a moderate to finish so for south`westerly wind. Temperatures

and should not fall much slower than four degrees. Tomorrow, another area

of low pressure and another weather system pushing him from the south,

bringing yet more rain and this little system behind the bringing

wet and windy weather for the weekend. But this one, this will

pressure and this weather front will take a little while to reach us

tomorrow. We start off largely financed cry with brightness and

sunshine for many of us. `` largely fine and dry. We have showers

pushing up from the north and then some rain. Temperatures pushing up

to around seven degrees, some of us may even get a degree or so higher.

For much of tomorrow it will be moderate to fresh, and then the wind

will tend to pick up again as he heads into tomorrow evening. Look

what we have for the end of tomorrow, through the evening at

actually through much of tomorrow night. More rain, heavy at times

especially in the South. We could easily see two or three degrees.

Some of us in the South might see more of that. The rain will continue

to push through and it set the scene forthrightly, much of Friday will be

cloudy further outbreaks of rain and quite blustery wind. It might be

that the extreme west of a region could see some dry and great weather

for the end of Friday, it depends how quickly the rain moved out of

the way. The low pressure system will move in and determine how

quickly we get more heavy rain and the strongest winds. It looks like

rain moving through on Saturday will give way to showers and blustery

winds that the LA hours of Sunday could cost between 50 and 70 mph and

then more outbreaks of rain and windy conditions on Sunday. Those

are your overnight lows. I was going to see I make DNS

tomorrow but I would have to stay in bed for four days!

CU tomorrow! NICK CLEGG: Are you in,

or are you out? That's the real question at stake at

the European elections on May 2 nd. even though that would wreck

the recovery and destroy jobs. The Conservatives are now

openly flirting with exit, and the Labour Party, well, they

just don't have the courage they wouldn't lift a finger

to help keep Britain in the EU So I'm asking you

to vote for the Liberal Democrats, in for the sake of British

prosperity and jobs. I'm in because we set

the global standards