09/02/2017 Look East (West)

In the programme tonight: The threat to a pioneering scheme easing

the pressures on A by keeping elderly people out of hospital.

We will do our best to cope with what has happened but I really,

really don't think it is indeed best interest of in Hertfordshire.

The man accused of killing Royston writer Helen Bailey says kidnappers

Why a Bedford accountant was stopped from making a charitable donation.

And I'm here inside shed one at Cardington, looking at the future of

the airship industry. First tonight the row over health

funding in Hertfordshire. The county council is reporting

part of the local NHS to the Health Secretary after it

pulled millions of pounds out of a fund designed, in part,

to stop bed-blocking. It comes as latest figures show that

in our part of the region in December patients spent nearly

15,000 days in hospital beds Our political reporter Tom Barton

has been looking at the figures. The picture of delayed

transfers of care, better known as bed-blocking,

is very mixed across our So in the best-performing areas,

Luton and Central Bedfordshire, last year for every 100,000 people,

on average five beds But in Northamptonshire the figure

was five times bigger. 25 beds each day were being used by

someone who didn't need to be there. In Cambridgeshire and

Hertfordshire it was a little I've been taking a look at one

scheme in Hertfordshire where they're taking action

to improve that figure. Myra Stephenson has been

in St Catherine's Nursing Home in Letchworth Garden City

for three weeks. She came here straight from hospital

and she much prefers it. It's just like a hotel and whatever

you would want, it's there. And the nurses are individuals

and you're an individual. Myra is benefiting from the scheme

which sees the local NHS and Hertfordshire County Council

working together and It's paying for exercise classes

like this, which have led to a massive drop in the number

of falls, stopping unnecessary It is also helping to get people out

of hospital more quickly. Hertfordshire have just started

using this red bag as a way of making the process of leaving

hospital run as It has got everything in it that

you need to go home, so it is a change of clothes,

it has got your medication and it The project also has

a trusted assessor, working in the Lister Hospital on behalf

of the Hertfordshire Care Home Association,

helping to get people out of hospital as soon

as they are ready. We have had a 45% reduction

in hospital admittances since we've In terms of the trusted assessor,

she has now saved, I think it is, 305 bed days in six months,

so that means that we have made The Herts Valley Clinical

Commissioning Group has just taken ?8.5 million out of the shared fund

that pays for schemes like this. Very few parts of the NHS

are making such payments. Yesterday a council committee

decided to ask the Health Secretary I strongly believe that patients

will suffer because while we can absorb some of the impact

of that funding reduction within the service, and we will be

able to resolve some of it, the magnitude of ?8.5 million just

being taken out five weeks before we set our budgets is,

it makes it almost For now though Myra and others

like her are benefiting from a system that is really helping

to stop unnecessary So that's the situation

in Hertfordshire. But, as we saw earlier,

the worst performing area In December 2010 patients spent

1,500 more days in hospital beds The latest figures published today,

for December last year, show that figure is now

more than 5,000. Part of the reason,

according to the county's care home association,

is that many homes won't work with the council because it

doesn't pay them enough. The impact is that we cannot provide

the service that we need They don't pay a sufficient amount

of money per week per resident. We are reaching, in

effect, a tipping point. We have said to them that they need

to increase their funds, they need to increase them rapidly

to prevent further homes from shutting and prevent

bed-blocking to the local hospitals. Northamptonshire County Council says

it's giving care home operators more And is planning to invest an extra

?1.7 million in the next year. And more investment is likely

to be needed because this In 2008 there were 970,000 people

over 65 in the East of England. And it's only going to get bigger,

raising questions over how we look And later in the programme we'll be

in one of the region's hospitals to see how they try and deal

with the issues of Next the fiance of children's author

Helen Bailey has claimed he was blackmailed for ?500,000

by a pair of mystery kidnappers Ian Stewart denies killing

Helen and told a jury that he spoke to her four days

after she disappeared. Let's join our reporter,

Kate Bradbrook, outside Ian Stewart was on his

feet in the witness box Ian Stewart said the two men were

business associates of Helen 's late husband Johnson Field and said they

had visited the house many times and demanded paperwork from there and he

had been physically assaulted by them. They threatened that if they

did not get what they wanted they would demand ?500,000.

Ian Stewart was on his feet in the witness box

His voice broke several times as he gave his version of events

He told the court that two men named Nick and Joe abducted Helen

on the 11th April, the day she went missing.

It said on Friday 15th, Nick turned up at the house with a phone.

Ian spoke to Helen, who said "Sorry about everything, I love you."

He replied, "It's not your fault, I love you too."

Ian Stewart told the jury that the following day he met Nick

in Kent to hand over Helen's phone as they had requested.

He said on 26th April Nick and Joe demanded access

They said Helen told us where something was in the garage.

Ian Stewart later told the court they must have

Ian Stewart claimed throughout that Nick and Joe had threatened

that he would never see Helen Bailey again if he told

He said they told him if they didn't get what they needed

they would demand half a million pounds.

Ian Stewart is accused of drugging Helen Bailey with sleeping pills

He told the court Helen had taken them when she realised he couldn't

When asked why that wasn't mentioned in his defence

The drug zopiclone was found in Helen Bailey's system when her body

was found three months after she disappeared.

Under cross-examination prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC put

Now, Ian Stewart also admitted today that he had lied for months about a

note which he said that Allen had note which he

left saying she had gone to left saying she had gone to

Broadstairs and he said he had to do that in order to keep a safe and

also because he was told his sons could end up in hospital if he said

anything, but he told the court today that month later he received a

phone call saying that one of the men, Joe, had now been dealt with

and that he was safe to contact police. Ian Stewart denies all of

the charges against him and his defence case will continue here on

Monday. Thank you.

A Muslim accountant from Bedford had ?400 in charity donations frozen

online after his name appeared on a restriction list

Mamunul Islam had used the online ticketing website EventBrite to sell

tickets to a community film screening in late January

when he was told the money would not be released

When Mamunul Islam organised a charity film night in Bedford

he gave guests the option to make a donation for the screening.

But when Mr Islam went to withdraw the money from ticketing

website Eventbrite he received an e-mail saying the money

was being temporarily withheld because the name M Islam matched one

that had been restricted by the United States Office

If it was my own government, it was our own Parliament,

it was our treasury officer putting such restrictions, than

I would've said, OK, this is my government doing it.

This is the US government telling a British citizen he cannot have

that payment because your name is Islam, you are a Muslim.

Mr Islam had used the site many times before without a problem

but Eventbrite told us it as an automated system that does

the matching and is then reviewed by a team member.

In a statement the company said Whether our colleagues reach out

to the organiser to get additional information

In this event they only had a last name and no geographical information

so our colleagues contacted Mr Islam for additional information to help

verify that he was not the person on the Ofac list.

We took these steps as a routine compliance measure and not

in reaction to any recent news events or changes in US law.

Mr Islam's MP Richard Fuller says he is investigating the incident,

but doesn't believe Mr Islam was discriminated against.

It is not an issue of discrimination, it's

about whether the computer programmes that are being used

are being applied fairly in all cases.

It wasn't a close match, I don't think Mr Islam's name

should have been flagged up and I am going to check with the company to

Eventbrite says unfortunately someone with a very common name

like Islam is more likely to match the list.

Eventbrite, the site that we are using,

Mr Islam believes media pressure encouraged Eventbrite

The company says it is truly sorry for the distress caused.

The government has lifted part of a ban on keeping poultry outside,

but birds on farms in high risk zones will have to stay indoors.

The restrictions were introduced in December to help prevent

It means egg producers in high risk areas including

parts of Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire

will lose their free range status from 1st March.

Peterborough travel giant Thomas Cook has cheered a solid

start to the new year, but says it still remains

The company says that holiday bookings for the Greek Islands have

risen by nearly 40%, as travellers move away from Turkey

and Egypt because of concerns about security in both countries.

Chief executive Peter Fankhouser said there was no sign that Britons

had been put off by the weak pound, but there was still plenty of

Shares in the company fell almost 10% on the news,

More at 10.30pm, but now here's Stewart and Amelia.

Still to come tonight: More wintry weather on the way.

And fighting the fines for taking children out

We meet the couple who refused to pay and ended up in court.

As new figures reveal that so-called bed blocking

is the highest on record, we've been given exclusive access

to one of the region's hospitals to see how

The head of the NHS said today that delays in getting people out

of hospital and into social care or back home have gone up by 90%

Simon Dedman has been to Basildon Hospital to see how

a team there is dealing with the problem.

We have had a very challenging night.

We are still on black alert currently.

It is the first meeting at Basildon Hospital to work out

I've got three potential discharges for today.

We are in a position where we have no more beds in the hospital,

so we have 28 patients placed in A, so at the moment, if we have

any more ambulances arrive, we only have one trolley

If you have more than one patient, what are you going to do?

Then we will have ambulances queueing.

We admitted more people than we were able to discharge yesterday.

Basildon's managing director takes me through the latest situation.

What we're hoping to do is move patients into our elective

orthopaedic ward, which means we are not able to do joint surgery,

Just coming round to see if there are any patients for hospital home?

After the morning meeting, nurse Natalie Cook goes ward to ward

to find patients who could be discharged from hospital

and get their treatment from Basildon hospital nurses

The consultant saw you yesterday and is happy for us to take you home.

She has found one who will hopefully be discharged today.

She heads now to find four other patients who can get

But the real problem is being dealt with here.

Sick elderly people who get stuck in hospital.

This ward aims to treat the frail quickly and get

That is what this team works on every day at nine.

Some patients have been here for ten days though.

But after two days on this ward, Eileen is looking

I am on some tablets, I don't know exactly what they are for,

other than having those in the mornings and apart from that,

it's just being here and getting looked after.

Some patients here are waiting for social care to kick in.

The majority of the patients who come over here we treat

The longer they stay, more complex problems arise,

so having access to community services and talking

to leads in community, we are able to get them out quicker.

Every bed in Basildon Hospital is taken and it has pretty much been

that way since the beginning of the year.

So much so that if you needed something like a hip replacement,

they would pay to send you private, none have taken place

Basildon Hospital is trying but getting slack in the health

This time of year, lots of families will be spending hours trying

to find a decent summer holiday at a decent price.

So do you take the children out of school during term time

when everything is much cheaper, or do you wait for the school

The government says children need to be in school and unauthorised

absences attract a fine of ?60 per child.

But when Matt and Kerry Thomas from Norwich were fined ?120

following a trip to Majorca, they decided to fight

Wearing her uniform today but last summer, faith and her brother took a

week out of school with their parents. They headed for the Spanish

holidays it would have cost 3000. I holidays it would have cost 3000. I

and the exchange rate and I learned and the exchange rate and I learned

how big the world was. Their schools took a DM view. The local council

took action. Matt and Ceri Thomas refused to pay the ?120 fine so it

was doubled. They still refuse to pay and so today both sides faced

each other in court. I know what is best for my children not someone

sitting in a courthouse or behind a desk. I know what is best and the

best thing for them was to have the experience of a foreign holiday.

Matt is pinning his hopes on the case of another father who won his

case at the High Court. He took his daughter to Florida and faced a

and now Supreme Court judges will and now Supreme Court judges will

decide if he has to pay. I don't think there is an issue, as long as

they catch up with their work and make sure that is not affected.

Maybe when they were younger, maybe not so much when they are older

because of exams. I don't agree with it. They are therefore education.

The county council told us it is Headteachers themselves who decide

whether or not to take action... Aside from the lower cost of

holidays during term time, there are those like this family who thought

their rights as parents are being undermined, but the government is

clear, even a few days away from school can affect exam results and

have a detrimental effect on a child's's education. That is the

only holiday we have ever been on as a holiday. But we took it on term

time which is against the law. The family will be back here for a full

trial next month. I'm sure most of us remember

the case of the wheelchair user who took his local bus company

to the supreme court, after a dispute with a woman

with a child in a buggy over He won the case, but now something

similar has happened in Essex. Nicki Price has cerebral

palsy and was waiting She says there were two pushchairs

taking up the space for a wheelchair and the mothers refused

to move them. Nicky Price on her way to the bus

stop. She says using a bus must be a basic right. Unfortunately they are

not very reliable. They are always missing buses out which makes the

enough is bus overcrowded. And when Nicky try to get on a first bus

recently, there were two pushchairs in the space for the wheelchair. The

drivers ask the mother to fall they pushed us up, they both said no and

Nicky could not get on. I was devastated. I was upset, angry. I

was worried about my child which was my main thought at the time, which

was I must get to my child, to pick her up. But I felt like a second

class citizen. And it came despite Doug Pauley's recent victory in the

Supreme Court. He could not get onto a bus when a mother with a pushchair

refused to move. The judges ruled they should do more to accommodate

wheelchair users. Nicky Price says the ruling has not made any

difference. She dreads being left stranded at a bus stop. I am

vulnerable, left out in the cold, alone. Where does it... What if

something happens? I feel scared to use the buses. In a statement, first

said: Nicky Price see the fore says she

has received overwhelming support over what she feels is a continuing

injustice against wheelchair users. You may well know that hidden away

in a giant hangar in Bedfordshire is the longest aircraft

in the world. It's called the Airlander and it's

a cross between an airship and a conventional plane.

Last summer, everybody got very excited when it

made its maiden flight. Then, a few days later,

there was a crash landing. Now after months of repair work, it

could be back in the air very soon. Airlander in the skies above

Cardington. One of many maiden flights. Its second test flight

ended in this, and undignified nosedive on landing. The state of

the cockpit shown it could have been worse. I have been given special

access inside shed one. To find out how the air lender is recovering.

The cockpit now being rebuilt, those at the controls that they are

unharmed. There was a loud noise when we hit the ground. Pretty soon

we realise that most of the damage was superficial. We were fine and a

chilly got top and walked off the flight deck. Are you looking forward

to going back up? We are all excited. There was frustration we

had to stop flying to repair the aircraft, but we know we have made

loads of changes to our training and we will come back much stronger.

This shed is 100 years old, built for the original airships with its

own climate, far colder than own climate, far colder than

outside. A century ago, nearby shorts town was built to house the

workers and now the apprentices once again being recruited from the same

area. It is amazing to follow in their footsteps and a revolutionary

aircraft like this is amazing. It's a great feeling, a great atmosphere,

everyone grew up around here so knows the history. If it hadn't been

for a heavy landing, the Airlander would have had extra flying time but

backers remain optimistic. Details confidential but they include a high

profile investor from the middle east and it is hoped Airlander will

return to the skies very soon. Come March time, we should leave the hang

out again for our 2017 flight test programme. Then we will work with

customers, working up to some longer trips into Asia, North America. This

is the latest chapter in airship history as the industry celebrates

its 100th year here. Handsome. Very impressive. Now the

weather. Colder firmly establish across the British Isles. Bitterly

cold for at least 48 hours and there have been some snow flurries. These

photographs define some. Evidence of snow on the windscreen. You can see

a little bit of snow there on what looks like a table. Most of us saw

leaden skies today and with the temperature and the bitterly cold

wind, it has not felt pleasant. There will be the risk of further

snow showers over the next 24 hours. High-pressure, huge area of high

pressure across Scandinavia and that is blocking these Atlantic weather

systems coming in. Colder air across us over the last 24 hours. These

showers will continue this evening. Mainly for coastal parts, but as

that north-easterly wind freshens, they could move further inland, so

the chance you may wake up to a dusting of snow tomorrow morning,

particularly if you live in eastern counties. A few degrees below

freezing. Tomorrow's weather, not a lot changing but we have this

feature coming in from the north sea and there will be more depth to the

cloud tomorrow, so any showers will be heavier. The risk of those

showers through the day, a lot of dry weather but no evidence of

sunshine. Temperatures once more similar to today, two or three

degrees. Factor in that degrees. Factor in that

north-easterly wind, it will be bitterly cold. Snow showers could

move further west so as we go into Friday evening, a greater risk of

getting a dusting of snow and further across western counties as

well. Certainly looking very wintry over the next few days. There are

changes into next week. Low pressure moving up from the south and that

will change things. Slightly less cold air for the weekend, but we

still have the north-easterly wind so it will feel the same temperature

wise. But by mid week, more of a springlike feel as temperatures

cover perhaps into the mid teens. Fantastic! That is all from us.

Goodbye. OK, everyone, have you got

your bamboo sticks? If you just paint

what you want to paint, I've turned around,

my painting washes away. ..and take on

The Big Painting Challenge. Remember, you're not painting

a pond. Before I met you,

I was a civilised woman.