08/11/2017 Look East (West)

Newsnight is coming up on BBC Two.

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

In Look East tonight:

A big improvement in care

at Northampton General Hospital.

A hidden killer.

The heart condition that can strike

sufferers at any time.

And back on track.

The touring car racing driver

back behind the wheel

after a horrific accident.

Hello.

We start tonight with news

of a turnaround at one

of our busiest hospitals.

Three years ago

the watchdog the Care

Quality Commission said

Northampton General Hospital

required improvement.

Today, it's been rated as good.

That's the second-highest

of four rankings.

Inspectors said there had been

a complete change in culture.

Sam Read has been looking at how

the change has happened at a time

when pressures have been rising.

At the front line of patient care,

Michelle is trying to work out why

Kevin has a shortage of breath.

All in a hospital inspectors

say is much improved.

It's done huge amounts for morale.

Our work...

We've put an awful lot of work

in over the last three years.

And I think that has

really paid off.

The staff have worked hard,

they continue to work hard

and it's just really nice

that is being rewarded.

Perhaps the starkest example

of the change at this hospital

is here in accident and emergency.

Three years ago, the leadership he

was rated as requiring improvement.

Now, it's rated as outstanding

and that improvement has happened

at a time when the hospital has

become busier than it's

ever been before.

The biggest change in it, I think,

really, is the positivity

from the staff compared to three

years ago and the biggest thing

of importance in that would be

that the people here feel that,

despite the pressure on the NHS,

they can actually do things to make

things better for patients

which is why they call come to work.

A&E attendances are

up 10% year-on-year.

There is still room to improve.

Emergency wait time targets

are still being missed

and inspectors asked for some

changes in areas like how medicines

are managed, but, overall,

patients seem happy.

I've been to visit my grandmother

a few times and they've always been

accommodating to visiting times,

that kind of thing.

The staff are really good.

They helped me and my baby

when we were in hospital.

Sometimes it's a bit on slow

on waiting but apart

from that it is good.

So this is the rating table

from 2014 on the left.

On the left, the last

inspection results.

Orange showing areas

requiring improvement.

On the right, the 2017 results

and green equals good.

The boss here is proud of what she

calls a massive achievement.

The biggest change in it, I think,

really, is the positivity

from the staff compared to three

years ago and the biggest thing

of importance in that would be

that the people here feel that,

despite the pressure on the NHS,

they can actually do things to make

things better for patients

which is why they call come to work.

This stroke ward has been named

in the top ten in the country.

As demand on services

like this continues to rise,

the challenge for the hospital

is to keep improving for patients.

Earlier, I spoke to Sam

about the significance

of the hospital's turnaround.

It's been a big turn

around for the hospital.

It has been, at a time

with the pressures we talk

about day in and a day out.

I also think it's worth mentioning

the role of management.

The current boss started her job

just a few months before

the last big inspection,

three years ago, which didn't turn

out that well, so she has overseen

this improvement and we know how

important the management is.

Down the road in Kettering,

the hospital there is in special

measures and inspectors

there picked out the management

as a factor, so we know

what is important.

What next for Northampton General?

Can it achieve the highest rating?

That's "outstanding"

and they will be going for that.

Today might help with that.

Here is why.

One of the biggest issues facing

the NHS is recruitment.

If it is publicly known

that they are improving and doing

well, they will attract staff

and further improvements

for patients.

It's a hidden condition that can

kill, out for a run,

Playing football, even

going for a walk.

Cardiomyopathy affects one in 500

people and is passed down

through generations.

But most people don't

even know they have it.

Now a charity is calling for people

who have a history of heart

conditions in their family to get

themselves and their

relatives tested.

Mousumi Bakshi reports.

Mogul the dog keeps Matt fit.

He's had to limit his activity level

since being diagnosed

with cardiomyopathy ten years ago.

You wonder what is it,

am I going die, why me,

is this the end of life as you know

it, what can I do, what can't I do,

where has it come from?

You go through all those emotions.

Cardiomyopathy is where the heart's

muscle is either to thick or too

-- Cardiomyopathy is

where the heart's muscle

is either too thick or too

spongy or too baggy,

so struggles to pump

blood around the body.

Matt's grandmother died

of a heart condition.

Nobody knew what it was

but after Matt's diagnosis,

his family were tested,

including his young children.

After six weeks, we got called back

and it's probably the most

relief I have ever had.

Yes, finding out that they were not

carrying the gene is a huge thing.

I still get emotional about it now.

So, it's just a relief.

The level of misdiagnosis is worse

for young people because they tend

to go the doctor looking quite fit

and healthy and quite

often we associate heart

problems with larger people,

older people and not young,

fit and healthy people.

That's where most of

the misdiagnosis is.

The most common symptoms

are tiredness, breathlessness

and heart palpitations,

but some people also

complain about dizziness,

chest pain and a swelling

of the legs and tummy.

The symptoms they cause can be

fairly common symptoms

and the majority of patients that

get symptoms such as breathlessness

or palpitations won't have anything

seriously wrong with their heart,

but it depends to a degree

on the level of concern

from the general practitioner

or from the patient and with that

in mind that it becomes important

for the patient to know more

about their family history

of heart conditions.

It's serious enough

to cause sudden death.

I have been told by the family

doctor if I had carried on the way

I was before I was diagnosed,

I probably wouldn't be here today.

Matt was treated with

drugs but eventually

had open heart surgery.

It's transformed his life but he

knows he is one of the lucky ones.

The failed Luton airline Monarch has

lost a High Court battle over runway

slots it was hoping to sell.

Monarch went into

administration in October.

It was hoping to use the 2018 slots

to raise money to pay off creditors.

But the company which deals

with the allocations decided not

to allocate those slots to Monarch

and today the High Court

agreed.

Administrators for Monarch say

they'll launch an urgent appeal.

Five months ago, racing driver

Luke Davenport was seriously injured

in a ten-car accident which left him

in a coma for two weeks.

Many thought it would end

the career of the 24 year

old British Touring Car

driver from Cambridge.

But incredibly he has

recovered his fitness and got back

in the driving seat.

The details, from Chris Mann.

Preparing to get back on track.

Luke Davenport's long road

to recovery almost over.

The comeback many people believed

was almost impossible.

The very badly damaged

car of Luke Davenport.

Back in June this ten car accident

almost cost him his life.

It left him in a coma with a string

of serious injuries.

Fractures to the ankle and tibia

and fibula on the left leg,

and my cruciate ligament

on my right knee ruptured.

My pelvis was also

effectively shattered.

Then I broke four ribs,

punctured both lungs,

and my right clavicle.

Two weeks in a coma.

Do you really want to race again?

Do you want to get back

in that race car today?

Yes, I can't wait to get back.

It's ingrained.

I'm desperate to get back.

He is behind the wheel for the very

first time since the crash.

Luke passed a medical last week.

Once again he has

his licence to race.

In a sport where hundredths

of a second are literally

the difference between success

and failure, between winning

and losing, Luke has to prove that

not only he has the desire,

but the ability also and that's

what has been put to the test

here today at Snetterton.

When I watched him drive the pit

lane, I am not normally an emotional

person around race car,

but I got quite emotional,

because for me that was a sign

that he had got back to health,

fought his way through

and was back, basically.

Safely back in the pits,

how about those injuries?

How was that?

It was relieving that there wasn't

any pain or anything like that

but above all just great feeling

to get back in a car

after five months.

He passed the test

with flying colours.

So against all odds

Luke is on course to be

racing again next season.

Here's Alex with the weather.

Hello, there.

Temperatures close to freezing

in one or two parts of the region

already with a risk of a touch

of frost in places.

As we go through the night,

increasing cloud coming

in from the north-west and bringing

some light rain and drizzle.

Those temperatures will recover

by the end of the night but it

still will be a chilly start

to the day tomorrow.

This weather system slowly clearing

south or eastwards and that's

going to mean a rather cloudy

and damp start to the day,

with some outbreaks of rain

during the morning.

But brighter skies are expected,

with some fine autumn sunshine

for all of us by the afternoon.

Still on the chilly side, though,

temperatures around 11 or 12

Celsius with a light north

to north-westerly wind.

Staying fine for the afternoon.

The national weather is coming up,

but here's the outlook.

And into Friday, it's a bright

start, turning increasingly cloudy

with some rain moving in overnight

Friday and into Saturday.

It's looking much colder

for the weekend with some sunshine

around but also some showers

and some chilly nights.