20/10/2016 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

In the headlines tonight: Referral Row.

GPs for half a million North East patients have to go

through a private company if they want to refer

It's absolutely disgraceful that they have gone ahead whth this

Also tonight: The hunt is on for the criminals who drove

a nail through a dog's head before burying it alive in these woods

The RSPCA says it's inexplicable cruelty.

It is probably the most graphic and horror horrifying incident H have

Plans for a shared space between traffic

The outdoor epic Kyren will be back next year with even more

volunteers and some Olympic opening ceremony magic.

In sport, could Newcastle Dhamonds finish the speedway season

And what does the new York City football manager make

There is outrage from a loc`l MP tonight after it was revealdd GPs

in part of our region are no longer able to refer patients

Look North's discovered that all GPs across North Durham

and North Tyneside must now go through a private company bdfore

It affects half a million North East residents.

The contract was given to the company by the local

Clinical Commissioning Groups which plan health services.

They say cutting hospital admissions has already saved a million pounds.

Our Health Reporter Sharon Barbour has this exclusive report.

After investigations, your GP wants you to see

But Look North has learned for half a million North East patients,

the decision as to whether xou can see a range of hospital specialists

has been taken away from doctors and handed to a private company

NHS bosses say the process will save money, get patients

to specialists sooner and reduce hospital admissions.

Some GPs say it undermines their role.

This is mainly about money, trying to save money in the NHS, btt if

they really need treatment within a hospital, that is what has got to

happen. I think the majoritx of GPs are the sale, and within my own

practice, we were only refer the patient if we think that is the most

appropriate way forward. I can understand many of my GP colleagues

who are feeling their autonomy and clinical decision-making is being

It's been in place on North Tyneside for a year.

The GPs now have to send their hospital referral reqtests

or patient concerns including Cardiology,

Gynaecology, Dermatology, ENT, Gastroenterology

It won't affect suspected c`ncer or other urgent cases.

Durham's MP has called for the contract to be stopped.

It is that have gone ahead with this with no public consultation on with

the approval of GPs, I understand. That is what I will be demanded of

them today. That they put a halt until there is proper consultation

and oversight in place. I rdally do not want this contract to go ahead

because I think it would compromise patient safety.

The MP says she'll raise questions about

The MP says she'll now raise questions

If you didn't know about the contract,

its because the public haven't been told.

The British Medical Association says that is wrong.

GPs and patients will be concerned if there are barriers being placed

between them and specialists in their local hospital when their

patient needs to see a spechalist. Commissioning Group,

which began the contract thhs week with the private company,

insists GPs will benefit and if hospital appointments

are denied, patients will bd I would not see it as underlining, I

am asking for an opinion from a specialist and if they writd to me

after three days and say, h`ve you tried this medication? I thhnk that

is better for my patient. Wd are trying to make the NHS work more

quickly. If we can get patidnts to specialists earlier and diagnose

conditions earlier, we will take the fissures that way by stopping

hospital admissions. But if it goes on? In that rare instance it is

About Health who are responsible. I wanted to know how many

patient referrals had expert medical opinion and how

they could be getting that specialists have an input

for every single referral. All of our clinical team

are specialists in the area So cardiologists review

cardiology referrals. How we pay our staff

is an internal matter." Some people will bring about whether

About How Will Ever See A P`tient. They Will Look At The Letter From

The Gp And Some History, But They Will Never See The Patient. The NHS

is under extraordinary financial pressure. North Tyneside

commissioning group is in special measures and managing a defhcit of

?19 million. Durham is trying to save ?7 million. They managdd 1 ,000

referrals and they have told patients that 2000 of them will not

be going to hospital and th`t has saved ?1 million. You can sde the

financial attraction. I havd just had a look at a chart and it shows

that of the whole country North Tyneside has had less referrals in

the last year than anywhere else. But we do not know how it affects

the patient. If you have bedn affected, we would be reallx keen to

hear from you. And you can have your

say on this story on our Facebook Page: that's

at facebook.com/BBCLN The words today from the RSPCA

after a small dog was buried alive And we must warn you that

in this screen behind me, we're about to show an x-rax image

which is shocking. If children are watching, you might

want to ask them to look aw`y. Walkers discovered the dog

in Kirkleatham Woods near Redcar yesterday

after they heard it whimperhng. They called the police but ht had

to be put down immediately. An act of horrific cruelty was how

the RSPCA described it. A five inch nail hammered

through the head of a small dog It was found in Kirkleathem Woods,

burried here, just off the footpath. It was only found because a couple

of walkers heard the dog whhmpering. And almost inexplicable crudlty It

is probably the most graphic and horrifying and it might be.

Obviously this dog was found by members of the public out w`lking

their own dogs and they havd said it is something that will live with

The North East and Cumbria has one of the higest rates of anim`l

And the Redcar MP Anna Turldy is campaiging to change the law

so people convicted of thesd crimes will recieve tougher

The maximum sentence for anhmal abuse of any kind is one ye`r in

prison and that seems to me totally insufficient for the huge scale that

is taking place around this country of animal abuse. The statistic show

if people abuse animals, thdy often abuse people in life as well.

Back in Redcar the dog, which it's thought was a Jack Russell

or a West Highland Terrier, had to be put down after thd attack.

The RSPCA says because of the force of the attack it's likely that more

And it's urging anyone who lay have information to get in touch,

so it can prosecute those rdponsible for this horrifying act of cruelty.

Emergency services have been on board a ship of Tynemouth after a

man fell from the vessel. There is no word on the casualty's condition.

Further down the coast the bomb squad has been at Teesport `fter a

suspicious package was found. In the last hour it has been confirmed it

Nine people have now been arrested over the death

Jodie Wilkinson was stabbed in Stanhope Street, near Newcastle

Those held are aged between 14 and 43.

The police say the investig`tion's ongoing and they are keen to hear

Disability groups in Morpeth who'd been campaigning against pl`ns

for a "shared space" road network are celebrating tonhght

after Northumberland County Council decided to scrap the scheme.

The controversial proposals for the Stobshill area would have

meant the removal of all pavements, kerbs and crossings.

Jim Knight joins us live now from Morpeth.

Thanks, Carol. It is fair to say these proposals have caused a great

deal of alarm for some people in Morpeth, particularly among

disability groups. From thel tonight there has been a collective sigh of

relief. If the scheme had gone ahead, all these papers behhnd me

would have been stripped aw`y to create the so-called shared spaces.

We can show you pictures of a similar scheme in operation in

Cheshire. The idea is that pedestrians and motorists qtite

literally shared the same space But for disability groups they say they

are complete no go areas and that is why they are celebrating in Morpeth

They don't normally get this excited at the meetings

of the Northumberland Low Vhsion Action Group, but there

was a tangible sense of relief that this scheme,

which they had all been dre`ding, has finally been scrapped.

For Ace and Trish and their guide dogs Peggy and Beth

I think it's a success for the people.

A voice for the people and safer for all guide dog

users and everywhere in the country, take note.

Maybe this will help other people in other parts of the country.

Sometimes we have to go through a traumatic, well,

it was not that traumatic, but a very difficult time to help

other people understand and know let's not do that.

Local councillors welcomed the council's U-turn.

I am pleased to see that common sense has prevailed

I agree and I am delighted to put a stop to this waste of ?280,00

of taxpayers' money and stopped a very controversial scheme.

So relief in Morpeth, but it has still left disabhlity

groups in Morpeth still wondering who else is on the list for one

Is that it for shared spaces in Northumberland? This is far from the

end of the road, so even though the County Council declined to put

anyone forward for interview, they made it clear in a statement that

they are still in discussions about two shared space schemes in Bamburgh

and Alnwick. They say they have already had a successful medting in

Bamburgh about the scheme. But whilst we were filming, somdbody

from Alnwick came over to md and wanted to express his concerns. What

about young children? Will Xoung children be able to underst`nd that

road is different from the road next to it? There are real concerns about

this, not only in Alnwick, but in Banbury as well. That is next on the

list. The County Council has promised to consult a much wider and

particularly with disabilitx groups next time, so we will have to see

what develops over the next few weeks.

Crunch talks have been taking place this afternoon over plans that

promise new investment and jobs to the Tees Valley in return for

The area's five council leaders discussed the deal with comlunities

But after local authorities in the rest of the north east

rejected similar proposals, the approach remains contentious.

Our political correspondent Luke Walton joins us from Westminster.

Carol, last year two parts of the north east signed up

But this summer the seven councils from Durham

to Northumberland abandoned the plan, leaving only

the Tees Valley on course for mayoral elections next spring.

Teesside councils say the area needs extra funding and responsibhlity

in return and today they cale here to westminster

En route to a new type of politics, but with plans for a region`l Mayor

hitting the buffers elsewhere, can Teesside keep its proposals

on track and make sure ministers keep their side of the barg`in?

I think we wanted to get sole reassurance around the things

that we negotiated as part of our devolution deal.

Particularly within that was the whole agenda around jobs

and ensuring we get the invdstment that we need to secure

I think there is a subtle mdssage here, and that is we are taking

power from 250 miles away and bringing it to Tees Valley.

The election next May will focus on that.

Teesside's leaders may be on their way to Westminster,

but they hope their final destination will be a region

with more power and investmdnt, so can they get the deal thdy want

On the table, a promise of `n extra ?450 million over 30 years,

that's funding for transport, housing and skills.

So after a 40-minute meeting with the new communities Secretary,

I think we've got the best deal on the table, certainly a bdtter

We have been very clear this is about economic growth and jobs

I am very confident that with the assurances we have got

we can deliver those 25,000 jobs and I suspect a few thousand more.

On top of that a pledge from the Minister of more to come.

We talked about taking this deal further.

This is very much in the beginning of a process.

I want to see more power devolved to these deals,

including to the Tees Vallex, and I think it will continud

We talked about that as well and I think

Many still see regional Mayors as undemocratic and promises of cash

But with Teesside's top brass returning happy, that area

That is the Tees Valley, but has the rest of the region opted out? It

certainly has. Councils likd Sunderland and Gateshead rejected

the idea of an elected Mayor because the public does not want ond and the

extra money being offered bx the government is a fraction of the cash

being taken from councils in funding cuts. It was a point I put to the

Minister. They did not want the deal and that is bad for local pdople in

terms of jobs and growth and it is a shame. They say you were not

offering the North East good enough financial support. Their de`l is as

good as anyone else's. People have to ask if it was good enough for

anyone else, why was it not good enough for them? But the minister

did not rule out striking a separate deal with the three north-e`st

council that support the devolution deal, Newcastle, North Tyneside and

Northumberland. In the meantime what we know is the Tees Valley is

on course for mayoral electhons in six months' time.

A project to help people with mental health issues has been founded

in memory of a Northumberland woman who went missing on

Around ?25,000 was raised after Sally Allan disappeardd

and half of that will now bd spent on raising awareness.

Alison Freeman spoke to Sally's husband and daughter.

New Year's day, Sally Allen's family gathered at the place

A month later their worst fears were confirmed.

She had taken her own life after an apparently

I think she was doing a good job of keeping it hidden.

I was shocked in myself and the children and friends.

I did try and get Sally to talk about it, but she was very good

at moving on, or blaming things like the menopause

But some of the things I have learnt, I mean,

So now the family are hoping to stop others going through the sale

Since Sally's death more than ?25,000 has been

Half of that money will enable the charity Tyneside

and Northumberland Mind to put on presentations in workplaces

across the region about how to cope with mental health issues.

We have had low moments over the last couple of months.

We use some of those technipues and they really do help.

I think we want to spread those out to everybody,

to look after their own mental health and look after other people

and maybe that will help people talk and that will hopefully help someone

else with their mental health and hopefully it will not end

As Christmas, on the anniversary of Sally's death approaches,

the family are trying to remain positive.

We will probably go for walks or visit the quayside, for dxample,

It will be very much one dax at a time and trying to be together

and look out for one another and try and remember the good times

A good cause. The organisers of the successful Bishop Auckland night

show Kynren have announced next year there will be more performances with

even bigger and better spechal effects. They will be taking on

hundreds of additional volunteers. New creative director is working on

the show and he has just returned from the Rio Olympics.

This summer, a previously dhsused piece of land in Durham bec`me

something spectacular. The new creative director is looking ahead

to next year. He has worked here before with the volunteers `nd then

he headed off to Rio to work on the opening ceremony to take an

opportunity to capture what it was like behind the scenes on hhs phone.

He also helped create the one in London four years ago. Kynrdn has

the same DNA. Volunteers cole from all walks of life, people who have

not necessarily performed bdfore. They have 1000 volunteers and one

500 more. But over the summdr, some of the cast cause problems, they

refused to go on stage. Thex did not move and then the others followed,

but that has all ended now. They are part of the family. It is lhke

anybody, we will convince them. Over the summer 100,000 people c`me to

see it and next year they whll have two more shows and they hopd 13 ,000

people will come here to sed it They hope the participants will be

prepared for 2017. Kynren mdans resurgence and that is why we chose

it for our name and we are dxcited to be there, at the beginning of the

next journey. I am a fan and we are going again.

That is enough commotion. A week is a long time in politics, but try 48

hours in the life of a football manager. Gary Mills was reappointed

manager of York city and Wrdxham dismissed their manager. Gary Mills

has found life on and off the page a bit of a struggle. A teenagd

European cup winner with Nottingham Forest, Gary Mills was back amongst

the silverware with York city, winning the FA Trophy and conference

play-off final in the same season. Two years later he nearly achieved

promotion with Gateshead. Hd replaces manager Jackie McN`mara who

failed to halt a run of poor results. I lost my job on Thursday

and I made my call about two hours later because I knew the job was

available. Fortunately for le the chairman felt it was right to speak

to me and offered me the job. I do not feel like I have been away. It

is a big challenge, but one I am looking forward to. McNamar` has

gone upstairs to become the club's Chief Executive. They will not be

interfering in what I do in any way, shape or form. What Jackie will do

is deal with issues with anx of the players, so I can totally focused on

the first team and getting them in the shape I want them to get into.

Mills had only been just appointed when York had crashed out of the

cup. We cannot play like th`t in major football matches. The training

sessions this week have gond really well. I want the supporters on

Saturday to see the change hn such a short space of time. In spedd

Newcastle Diamonds have the chance to end the season with some

silverware. At 6:30pm on Sunday evening they host Glasgow Thgers in

the first leg of the knockott cup. They finished third in the league

with the Tigers second, but because the Scots are in the play-off final

and have not yet finished their fixtures, they face four matches in

four days, so might work in their favour? It might do, but it is also

a fortnight since we have rhdden as a team and that could work `gainst

us. We have stayed unbeaten at home all season, and we will be

disappointed not to come aw`y on Sunday with a home victory. Our last

story helped teach self-estdem to children and raised thousands for

charity. What makes her all the more

remarkable is she is just 13 and she is off to a BBC Radio one p`rty to

celebrate. Taking selfie 's, typical tdenagers

you might think. Only there is little predictable about Leo Ramsay,

a pupil in Carlisle. Her colmunity work has seen her nominated for

this. Get ready to shout and go crazy! The Radio 1 teenager awards,

taking place this weekend. Ht is amazing getting the feeling you have

achieved something and people recognise what you are doing. None

of us do this for the recognition, we do it because we want to make a

difference and help people. Bright and hard-working, she is a source of

great pride to her mum. Words cannot relay just how proud I am of her and

she gives me so much inner strength and happiness that I cannot wait to

see what she is going to cole up with next. It seems only fitting

that Leah, who is a runner-tp, will be treated to a shindig featuring

some of the biggest pop stars at Wembley on Sunday.

Well done. Let's have a look at the weather.

We talked about strange birds visiting our neck of the woods the

other night. These did not fly in, but they floated in, Mediterranean

snails. But now they have to investigate how they are gohng to

affect the natural species, the resident species. The changds in the

weather will not happen verx quickly at all. Tonight there are a few

showers around, but they become fewer and further between. Clear

spells for many of us, especially in the West. Down to four or fhve

Celsius generally across Culbria. There could well be one or two mist

or fog patches forming and the clear skies. They will lift and clear

tomorrow morning and most places will have a dry and sunny d`y with

patchy cloud. A risk of the odd shower popping up, but nowhdre near

as widespread as today. Temperature is very similar, 12 or 13 at the

best. The winds are fairly light and they are coming down from that cool

northerly direction. Over the next few days high pressure builds over

Scandinavia and feeds -- easterly wind. We will see a few showers in

eastern areas. Get tomorrow out of the way and the weekend will see the

odd shower on Saturday, but a fair amount of dry and bright we`ther.

More cloud around on Sunday. Just a bit of garlic and pepper for

that snail. Oh! I am in trotble now. Good night.

Everyone's living these amazing lives,