:00:00. > :00:00.Up to five weeks wait to see a GP - demand surges in surgeries
:00:00. > :00:11.A court hears a woman may not have been dead when her body
:00:12. > :00:15.Brexit fears for Cambridge University as admissions
:00:16. > :00:30.Look East has learned patients in this region are facing long waits
:00:31. > :00:35.While it varies practice by practice, our snapshot survey
:00:36. > :00:39.found that for a non-urgent slot in Milton Keynes the average wait
:00:40. > :00:46.But in Northamptonshire patients will wait up to two weeks and it's
:00:47. > :00:52.In fact one practice there told us it can go up to five weeks.
:00:53. > :00:55.Waseem Mirza has been to see how some GP surgeries
:00:56. > :01:00.Trevor Whitby survived a heart attack.
:01:01. > :01:03.The 70-year-old grandfather now needs regular checkups
:01:04. > :01:09.Today, he's being seen at a duty clinic by nurse Kim Richardson at
:01:10. > :01:16.Are you happy to have your injection?
:01:17. > :01:19.Nurse Richardson is one of a bank of 20 nurses here.
:01:20. > :01:23.Four of them are paired to each doctor, helping to lighten
:01:24. > :01:28.Two years ago, we introduced nurse led clinics.
:01:29. > :01:31.What that allowed us to do was to employ teams of four
:01:32. > :01:37.That allowed us to increase the number of appointments
:01:38. > :01:41.which were available by using not only the GP's skills but also
:01:42. > :01:45.the skills that are often overlooked within the nursing team.
:01:46. > :01:48.On average, Look East has been told patients in Cambridge
:01:49. > :01:51.and Peterborough face a wait to see their own GP of up
:01:52. > :01:59.In one case, a surgery claimed its patients were facing
:02:00. > :02:02.Much has been said of the winter challenge facing the NHS,
:02:03. > :02:05.some calling it the worst winter ever faced by the health service.
:02:06. > :02:07.And it's our A departments like here at Hinchingbrooke Hospital
:02:08. > :02:10.that have been dealing with a higher than usual number of
:02:11. > :02:13.But they're not alone in facing up to the winter challenge.
:02:14. > :02:16.Faced with a tightening budget, fewer resources and more patients
:02:17. > :02:20.through their doors, it's the front line of GP surgeries
:02:21. > :02:26.The group that's responsible for making decisions on local health
:02:27. > :02:31.care say GPs are under more strain in a challenging financial climate.
:02:32. > :02:36.At the moment we have a real shortage of GPs, the demand has
:02:37. > :02:39.massively increased so we are doing another 70 million consultations
:02:40. > :02:43.over the last five years and actually we haven't seen a rise
:02:44. > :02:48.Sometimes it can take more than a week in order to speak
:02:49. > :02:51.to someone on the phone, so that's frustrating.
:02:52. > :02:56.They had said go to your doctor within a couple of days and check
:02:57. > :02:59.out this, that and the next thing, and it is worrying if
:03:00. > :03:06.They put us on a waiting list and they said maybe a week or two
:03:07. > :03:09.or maybe three or four or six weeks, but they gave us no
:03:10. > :03:16.North Bank practice says it is pioneering a new way
:03:17. > :03:18.of working, putting nurses at the front line.
:03:19. > :03:21.It's just one way in which the very idea of a GP surgery is having
:03:22. > :03:24.to change in order to survive under growing pressure.
:03:25. > :03:29.Waseem Mirza, BBC Look East, Wisbech.
:03:30. > :03:31.Well, the Department for Health has a target to recruit
:03:32. > :03:34.5,000 more GPs by 2020 - and put more money into
:03:35. > :03:37.Earlier, I asked Dr Jonathan Ireland from Northamptonshire's Local
:03:38. > :03:43.Medical Committee if GPs are willing to work outside of core hours.
:03:44. > :03:47.Again, it is about resources and capacity in the system.
:03:48. > :03:49.You have to ask real questions about how much work
:03:50. > :03:57.Most GPs do do what are called extended hours in the evenings
:03:58. > :04:00.or at weekends, which is funded additionally because of course GPs
:04:01. > :04:04.are responsible for the whole funding of their practice,
:04:05. > :04:07.including their staffing at their premises and all
:04:08. > :04:12.The Department for health has promised 5000 more GPs by 2020.
:04:13. > :04:17.That will help, won't it, or is it achievable in three years?
:04:18. > :04:20.I think many people think it's not achievable that to train
:04:21. > :04:23.that many GPs and then, well, train that many doctors
:04:24. > :04:27.and then attract them into general practice is a big ask.
:04:28. > :04:31.More importantly in my view will be to make sure that the promises that
:04:32. > :04:38.have been given in the GP review of better funding for the actual
:04:39. > :04:41.budgets for practices as well as the premises,
:04:42. > :04:45.more sustainable workload and also there are efficiency ways of working
:04:46. > :04:50.All those things need to be carried out to make the job more attractive
:04:51. > :04:53.so that people actually want to go into general practice.
:04:54. > :04:57.What would make GPs' lives easier, just in the next few months?
:04:58. > :05:02.I think what we need to see is a more sustainable workload,
:05:03. > :05:06.so to some extent it is about making the plans that are in place
:05:07. > :05:10.reasonable without knocking general practice over at the very moment
:05:11. > :05:13.when general practice is meant to pick up the pieces and help
:05:14. > :05:18.Next tonight, the jury at the Helen Bailey murder trial has
:05:19. > :05:21.heard that she may still have been alive when she was
:05:22. > :05:25.Her body was found in the tank beneath her Hertfordshire home three
:05:26. > :05:28.months after she was reported missing by her partner Ian Stewart.
:05:29. > :05:35.Forensic pathologist Doctor Nathaniel Cary,
:05:36. > :05:38.the first witness to be called in this case.
:05:39. > :05:41.He performed the postmortem on Helen Bailey's body
:05:42. > :05:45.when it was discovered in a cesspit at her home in Royston three months
:05:46. > :05:50.He told the court he couldn't be sure how she died.
:05:51. > :05:53.He said she was found fully clothed but barefoot,
:05:54. > :05:59.We heard the cold water had slowed decomposition
:06:00. > :06:02.and that there was no evidence of any injuries
:06:03. > :06:15.But we heard in this case a sleeping drug called Zopiclone was found
:06:16. > :06:20.It had been prescribed to the accused, Ian Stewart, in January.
:06:21. > :06:24.Doctor Cary said that although he couldn't rule out
:06:25. > :06:26.the possibility Helen Bailey was alive when she entered
:06:27. > :06:29.the water, the drug may have made it easier to kill her
:06:30. > :06:46.Doctor Cary said the drug had been going into Helen Bailey's system
:06:47. > :06:51.The court also heard levels of Zopiclone found in her hair
:06:52. > :06:55.suggested she ingested the drug on multiple occasions.
:06:56. > :06:59.The prosecution allege Ian Stewart had plotted to sedate
:07:00. > :07:02.and kill his fiancee in order to inherit much of her
:07:03. > :07:08.Ian Stewart denies murder, perverting the course of justice,
:07:09. > :07:11.fraud and preventing a lawful burial.
:07:12. > :07:14.We also heard today that postmortem tests on Helen Bailey's
:07:15. > :07:20.dog proved inconclusive in finding a cause of death.
:07:21. > :07:23.Tomorrow we expect to hear from Helen Bailey's brother.
:07:24. > :07:25.This case is expected to last around seven weeks.
:07:26. > :07:31.Kate Bradbrook, BBC Look East, at St Albans Crown Court.
:07:32. > :07:34.More than 200 people met in Cambridge tonight to discuss
:07:35. > :07:38.Many Europeans living in the city say they're worried
:07:39. > :07:40.about losing their right to live and work in the UK.
:07:41. > :07:43.Earlier in the day, it was revealed there's been a 14% drop
:07:44. > :07:46.in the number of European undergraduates applying to study
:07:47. > :07:55.Seven months on and there's still an air of uncertainty in Cambridge.
:07:56. > :07:58.The vote to Leave the EU took many by surprise
:07:59. > :08:02.and at a packed meeting tonight, EU nationals living in the largely
:08:03. > :08:05.pro-Remain city made their feelings known.
:08:06. > :08:08.Organised by the grassroots campaign Cambridge Stays,
:08:09. > :08:10.it was clear the government's reluctance to publish
:08:11. > :08:14.a Brexit plan had left many with unanswered questions.
:08:15. > :08:18.I would say I am concerned and confused as to what the situation
:08:19. > :08:22.is going to be formally as a German citizen living in the UK and I have
:08:23. > :08:26.come here really to get more clarity about what my options are.
:08:27. > :08:28.I'm very worried indeed because I'm thinking,
:08:29. > :08:36.all this 40, 50 years, paying tax, national insurance
:08:37. > :08:37.and everything else, is this all of a sudden
:08:38. > :08:43.Am I going to be chucked out just because my face don't fit?
:08:44. > :08:49.I was born in 1991, so I grew up as a European and I grew up
:08:50. > :08:53.with the feeling that I could move anywhere in the UK and I will be
:08:54. > :08:56.fine and I would be welcomed, and so Brexit was quite a shock.
:08:57. > :08:59.There was concern also today at how Brexit is affecting our universities
:09:00. > :09:04.with MPs taking evidence at a public hearing in Oxford.
:09:05. > :09:08.We've seen at Cambridge a 14% reduction in the number
:09:09. > :09:12.of applications from the European Union.
:09:13. > :09:15.From what the University can tell, many EU students are thinking twice
:09:16. > :09:20.Students are worried about the uncertainty of funding,
:09:21. > :09:23.students are worried about anti-immigrant sentiment
:09:24. > :09:26.and they are also worried about loss of possible collaboration with EU
:09:27. > :09:32.Reassurance will come from the Prime Minister and what she'll
:09:33. > :09:35.But that may take months, if not years.
:09:36. > :09:40.Mousumi Bakshi, BBC Look East, Cambridge.
:09:41. > :09:42.Controversial plans to build a new canal in Daventry have
:09:43. > :09:46.It'll be a one and half mile extension from the Grand Union Canal
:09:47. > :09:49.Daventry District Council says the scheme will include
:09:50. > :09:52.new waterfront bars and caf s which will encourage tourism
:09:53. > :10:00.That's all from me - but with snow on the way let's get
:10:01. > :10:04.We've got some very cold, potentially wintry weather
:10:05. > :10:07.heading our way over the next few hours and at much colder
:10:08. > :10:10.Under clear skies, temperatures dropping to low single figures,
:10:11. > :10:14.so the risk of a touch of frost in sheltered spots, despite the fact
:10:15. > :10:19.And tomorrow's weather's going to be shaped by this weather system coming
:10:20. > :10:23.There is a yellow warning out for this part of the country
:10:24. > :10:28.But we start the day on a dry and potentially bright note.
:10:29. > :10:31.It will quickly start to turn cloudy with a spell of rain
:10:32. > :10:36.This could be heavy in places and as that milder air hits the cold
:10:37. > :10:40.air, the potential is there for some of this to turn to sleet or snow.
:10:41. > :10:43.It is likely to be quite slushy because it will be falling on wet
:10:44. > :10:46.ground but the possibility is still there of some
:10:47. > :10:49.accumulation and a cold day with a northerly wind,
:10:50. > :10:53.The national weather's coming up, here's the outlook.
:10:54. > :11:01.A bitterly cold day for Friday with some strong northerly winds.
:11:02. > :11:04.start to the weekend. Time for the national weather prospects if you
:11:05. > :11:13.are on the move. Good evening, a lot going on with
:11:14. > :11:16.the weather in the next few days, numerous weather warnings in for so
:11:17. > :11:20.buried in mind if you have travel plans. Lots of isobars on the chart
:11:21. > :11:23.overnight which means it will be windy for all. The strongest winds
:11:24. > :11:26.in Scotland, lots of wintry showers with snow getting down to
:11:27. > :11:31.increasingly low levels and some wintry showers in Northern Ireland
:11:32. > :11:33.and northern England. A cold night for Northern England, particularly
:11:34. > :11:39.in more rural spots, frosty and I see for some and some of the snow
:11:40. > :11:41.really blowing around over higher ground in Scotland. Strong wind and
:11:42. > :11:45.further snow to take us into tomorrow. It may well make for some
:11:46. > :11:46.tricky travelling conditions. The forecast for tomorrow in