:00:00. > :00:11.there's a first look at the papers over on the BBC
:00:12. > :00:18.Good evening. First tonight two of our police forces are failing to
:00:19. > :00:21.adequately protect the victhms of domestic abuse. A report by the
:00:22. > :00:23.independent body which inspdcts police forces describes
:00:24. > :00:27.Cambridgeshire as being "not good enough" and Bedfordshire as
:00:28. > :00:34."potentially dangerous". Thhs report from our home affairs correspondent
:00:35. > :00:40.Sally Chidzoy. For 12 years roof suffered horrific
:00:41. > :00:45.physical and psychological `buse at the hands of our husband, bdaten
:00:46. > :00:52.with a rolling pin. Her six`year`old daughter saved her. She used to hide
:00:53. > :00:58.behind the door and watch and children absorb so much, so you
:00:59. > :01:05.should never underestimate them She dialled 999 and said, this hs wrong,
:01:06. > :01:09.this should not be happening. Out there are thousands of domestic
:01:10. > :01:13.violence abusers like this lan, but many escape arrest. But it hs the
:01:14. > :01:17.way the police respond that has led to her Majesty's Inspectorate of
:01:18. > :01:25.Constabulary that has led to the report. There were real concerns we
:01:26. > :01:30.expressed in this report th`t even victims at the highest level of
:01:31. > :01:36.risk, people that really cotld have serious injury or even worsd, were
:01:37. > :01:40.not being properly looked after Bedfordshire police accept their
:01:41. > :01:48.failings. We did prioritise our resources and dealt well with them,
:01:49. > :01:53.but what we lost focus on, `nd I am being frank, is other victils. They
:01:54. > :01:59.got a good service when thex were dealt with by officers on the
:02:00. > :02:04.street. What we did not focts on was picking up on those issues
:02:05. > :02:08.afterwards. There is also criticism of Cambridgeshire Police who
:02:09. > :02:12.prioritised burglaries and other offences over domestic violdnce The
:02:13. > :02:18.report looks at all 43 police forces in England and Wales, all ddscribed
:02:19. > :02:23.as needing to improve. Kay Butcher was not good enough and
:02:24. > :02:26.Northamptonshire had the lowest arrest rates and Hertfordshhre had a
:02:27. > :02:32.disjointed approach. Control rooms were where victims often returned to
:02:33. > :02:37.first. The right place handling can help people reach safety. It is the
:02:38. > :02:41.hardest thing to leave, it hs the most scary thing, but it is worth
:02:42. > :02:44.it. Ruth Benett talking to our home affairs correspondent Sally Chidzoy.
:02:45. > :02:47.Earlier I spoke to the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire and
:02:48. > :02:54.asked him how seriously his force takes domestic abuse. That report
:02:55. > :02:58.was written in December and we were very disappointed about what the
:02:59. > :03:03.Inspectorate found. It did chime in with some of the things we found
:03:04. > :03:09.ourselves in our own review. I have had a look at the report and it
:03:10. > :03:15.clearly states that domestic abuse is not taken as seriously as other
:03:16. > :03:21.incidents, such as burglary. The report is written as was, as a
:03:22. > :03:23.snapshot in time in December. When the Inspectorate came back hn
:03:24. > :03:28.February they said they werd astonished at the progress we made.
:03:29. > :03:33.You have got a relatively low arrest rate when it comes to these types of
:03:34. > :03:37.incidents. There are challenges around arrest rates and whether
:03:38. > :03:41.arrest is the right thing to do or not. We are looking at thosd forces
:03:42. > :03:48.who are described as the best and see what arrest rates do in the
:03:49. > :03:53.delivery of the service. Wh`t is it about, then? It is about working out
:03:54. > :03:57.what is the right thing to keep the victim safe in the future. Taking
:03:58. > :04:02.them out of their home for ` short time is not often the answer. The
:04:03. > :04:09.report said initial contact made to the police by call handlers meant in
:04:10. > :04:13.some cases incidents were not properly logged. I was surprised at
:04:14. > :04:18.that and went into it in detail and put in place training for c`ll
:04:19. > :04:23.takers. When there is an inspection next time are you confident enough
:04:24. > :04:27.changes will have been made? Although they have said we have done
:04:28. > :04:30.well, there is much to do to get us up to the standard of the bdst in
:04:31. > :04:33.the country. Northampton General Hospital needs urgent improvement
:04:34. > :04:36.according to the Care Quality Commission. In a report published
:04:37. > :04:40.today the CQC calls for improvements to its emergency services and says
:04:41. > :04:42.more needs to be done to make sure essential medical equipment is
:04:43. > :04:51.properly maintained. Ben Bl`nd is outside the hospital now.
:04:52. > :04:55.This is about the safety of patients and the quality of care thex receive
:04:56. > :05:00.when they come in for treatlent at one of our region's major hospitals.
:05:01. > :05:05.It goes back to last year when Northampton general was picked out
:05:06. > :05:09.as one of 19 trusts in the country where there were higher than
:05:10. > :05:14.expected death rates. The inspectors came in and they published their
:05:15. > :05:20.findings. They found six departments needed improvement. Worst of all was
:05:21. > :05:24.end of life care which they said was inadequate. They made specific
:05:25. > :05:29.recommendations. They said they needed to review how childrdn are
:05:30. > :05:33.treated in accident and emergency. They need to adequately test and
:05:34. > :05:38.monitor medical equipment and to improve the services for those
:05:39. > :05:43.coming in for emergency tre`tment. As an example they found in A some
:05:44. > :05:48.pages were waiting too long, there was a shortage of beds on some days
:05:49. > :05:53.and some pages were having non`emergency treatment cancelled.
:05:54. > :05:57.What has the hospital said today? The managers insist the hospital can
:05:58. > :06:01.turn this around and they s`id there were some positives in the report,
:06:02. > :06:05.such as the cleanliness of the hospital, and it recognised work was
:06:06. > :06:14.being done to make improvemdnts and the staff were appraised.
:06:15. > :06:20.The staff and particularly front line staff, doctors and nurses, were
:06:21. > :06:24.exhibiting caring behaviour towards patients and patients were very
:06:25. > :06:28.appreciative of the care thdy received. We have improvements to
:06:29. > :06:32.make, but they found broadlx our services were safe and effective and
:06:33. > :06:41.that is a testament to the hard work of our committed staff. And some
:06:42. > :06:45.departments were appraised `s good. Among them intensive and crhtical
:06:46. > :06:49.care and general services for children and young people.
:06:50. > :06:56.That is all from the late tdam, but it is time for the weather.
:06:57. > :07:03.There is still the chance of a heavy downpour across northern parts of
:07:04. > :07:09.the region. But for many of us we ended the night drive. Tempdratures
:07:10. > :07:13.will not be low enough to bring us a frost tomorrow. Tomorrow thdre is
:07:14. > :07:18.quite a lot of cloud around first thing, but it becomes gradu`lly
:07:19. > :07:23.brighter throughout the day. It will feel warmer in the afternoon as
:07:24. > :07:28.temperatures climb to 11 or 12. We have still got this easterlx wind,
:07:29. > :07:31.but we change the wind direction at the weekend and it will become
:07:32. > :07:41.warmer. Hello, as winter becomes spring the
:07:42. > :07:43.atmosphere contains more energy