06/04/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello, welcome to Thursday's Look North.

Tonight: Lose the weight or you won't get a new hip.

health trust to one patient in need of surgery, leaving her desperate.

I should be enjoying life at 40, enjoying my family.

I can't do that with the pain I am in.

A coroner criticises standards at a care home where three

Town traders taken to court for refusing to pay

for a scheme they say doesn't benefit their business.

And, closed for 15 months because of flooding.

York's world-famous Viking museum is reopening

Another blow for Boro in their fight against relegation.

And Matt Ritchie sends Newcastle back to the top of the Championship.

But the ref gets it wrong and has to apologise for his bizarre

She says she's in despair and almost constant pain.

But when she went to get help for her arthritic hip,

the news she received left her in tears.

A doctor told Louise Baines she must lose weight,

otherwise she couldn't have her hip operation.

Her local NHS in North Yorkshire is among a number of areas that now

delay access to routine surgery for smokers and people

It comes at a time when hospitals are facing multi-million-pound

Living on a farm means Louise Baines is relatively active but it also

The 40-year-old has arthritis in her hip and has been told by a private

But rules introduced by the local NHS in

Scarborough and Ryedale mean patients classified as obese face

delays of six months before they will be

referred for surgery, so they

I feel like I've been passed over to one side, I'm

I should be enjoying life at 40, enjoying my

family and I can't do that with the pain I am in.

An NHS group in North Yorkshire said it could refuse

Similar policies for routine hip and knee operations hit

the headlines when they were adopted elsewhere in

CCGs say introducing criteria around patients

smokers, is clinically driven, better for patients and not a

But it has been criticised by some including the

Royal College Of Surgeons, as an unfair way to save money in a

There are four Clinical Commissioning Groups in North

Yorkshire and all have been forecasting an end-of-year deficit,

ranging from just over half a million pounds

You could say they are lousy managers, but

They have a long-standing problem with finance

There is population movement but underlying it is

questions about the formula by which money is distributed.

Some are doing quite well but North Yorkshire

There is definitely more rationing coming in, of drugs, not just

This often hits people who have got social and economic

You could save the policies are discriminatory.

NHS England says it is aware of the deficits forecast

by the Clinical Commissioning Groups in North

Yorkshire, and is working with them to find long-term solutions.

The changes around surgery are one small part

of a wider plan being developed by the CCGs

The challenges remain, with populations that are ageing and

Louise is now taking part in a weight-loss programme but fears

she will still need an operation when her six-month

A coroner's strongly criticised standards at a care home.

Sowerby House near Thirsk was put into special measures last year

by the Care Quality Commission, after three of its residents died.

The home says it's now made significant improvements.

But during a two-day inquest in Northallerton,

one nurse who'd worked there said she'd never seen conditions like it.

It was a care home that should have provided safe accommodation.

When three residents died here last year,

Sowerby House in Thirsk was far from perfect.

Today, Michael Oakley, the North Yorkshire coroner, said

standards fell well short of what was expected.

The home he said was inadequately managed and record keeping was poor.

The family of Albert Pooley, one of the residents who died,

feared he wasn't being fed properly or being given enough to drink.

When he died he was emaciated and severely dehydrated.

The coroner has acknowledged the standard of care for Albert

while he was a resident was below the standard expected

We support the ongoing work identified by the CQC to bring

about the required improvements to prevent similar circumstances

The other two residents who died at the home where James Metcalfe

and Harry Kelvington, both were 85.

Today, despite the home being strongly criticised,

the coroner said the deaths of the three men were not

Although Sowerby House has since been downgraded from a care

home to residential, he concluded that all three men had

The inquest did hear from an agency nurse who spent just four hours

She said she had never seen conditions like it.

I came across a man in a room who was eating his breakfast

with the bedside table crawling in ants.

A man covered in urine from head to toe.

It smelt very strongly as if he had been lying there for hours.

The owners of the home say significant improvements

have since been made with new management in place.

Mr Pooley's family has welcomed plans by the CQC to reinspect

Phil Connell, BBC Look North, Sowerby.

Two men who beat a 50-year-old man to death in a flat in Scarborough

have been jailed for life for his murder.

Ricky Walker died in the attack at a flat

His family described it as an "act of pure evil".

Andrew Stevenson will serve at least 28 years in jail,

and Clifford Honeymoon a minimum of 25 years.

More than 100 businesses in Hexham are being taken to court

Traders in the town voted for a business improvement

It's designed to boost the economy of the area,

but some firms say they're being asked to pay

hundreds of pounds but get very little in return.

But those who haven't paid up now face legal action.

Our correspondent Mark Denten is in Hexham for us tonight.

Over 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin said there is nothing as

certain as death and taxes. We can give him the first, but the second,

taxes change. In Hexham, local traders last year

voted to introduce a new tax. Now, over 100 of those traders have

decided they are not getting anything out of it, they don't want

to pay and are on their way to court.

It is a defined area where local businesses invest in projects

It is decided by a local vote of firms who pay a levy of 1%

of turnover, there are currently a total of five business

improvement districts in our region alongside Hexham,

including ones in Newcastle, Penrith, Sunderland and York.

In Hexham, the aim is to boost trade and tourism.

But for a garage on an industrial estate, day-trippers are few

He didn't vote and hasn't paid his levy.

Now, along with 150 other businesses in Hexham,

So far, nothing apart from empty promises of hanging baskets

and extra signage which a lot of businesses feel should be

This local businessman staged a one-man protest

I deal with industry, factory, industrial maintenance.

Hexham could turn into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for me.

My business and what I do will not benefit at all.

In the town centre, the pavements are still stone, not gold.

This wholefood business voted for the levy, he wishes he hadn't.

?10,000 of that will be spent on cleaning the streets.

We have argued streets aren't being paid, something the should be paid

for by County Hall out of rates money.

The people behind the scheme say it is working.

Everybody will get something out of it, we have a four-year project

programme projects including cleaning, improved cleaning

in the town, improved signage and access making it easier to find

businesses, Christmas lights, a number of things.

Mark, the county council connects this levy, what do they have to say?

The council says this is a legally enforceable tax, and 86% of traders

in the town have paid it already. Those traders who have not paid will

be in court later this month. It's the future of surgery and means

better treatment for patients. Newcastle's Freeman Hospital

is now training doctors The machines revolutionise cancer

treatment by allowing Our correspondent

Peter Harris reports. At the console sits the surgeon,

they are controlling the robot, it is allowing access to cancerous

material that was What it allows surgeons

to do is very complex surgery in narrow spaces,

with extreme dexterity and gives the surgeon 3D vision,

causing minimal trauma to organs, and patients heal quickly

after major surgery. Here, they are training surgeons,

some of them consultants. Today they are looking

at head and neck cancers. We have the bit that

connects to the patient which is where the instruments

will connect into. It can radically reduce

the time surgery takes. Traditional surgery for tonsil

cancer involves cutting the neck open, splitting the jaw,

getting to the tumour site. With the robot, the cancer can be

removed in under two hours. There is another benefit

which is the time it takes for a surgeon to become proficient

is reduced by about three-quarters. Are surgeons doing themselves

out of a job with these At the end of the day

we are controlling the robot, maybe from a different venue,

even another part of the world. We heard a talk this morning

there are robots which can do Robots are being trained

by the surgeon. Maybe ten years down the line

we will see a robot operating on the throat and a surgeon

doesn't need to take part. The Freeman Hospital is unique

in offering robot training in numerous different

kinds of surgery. And for the patients it will mean

more precise cancer treatment Plenty more to come

in Thursday's Look North. Dawn's here with a look back

at last night's football. The youngsters taking

to the streets and the water to learn more about being

a police officer. As we head to the weekend, the

mostly dry weather stays with us and temperatures rise, joined me later

for the full story. It may be 16 months

since the devastation But some Cumbrian communities

are even now still getting Today, there were celebrations

in Keswick as the town's youth hostel officially reopened

after a million-pound Rewind to December 2015 and this

was the YHA in Keswick as the floodwaters

began to fall back. We were told that morning

it was going to happen. The police woke us at 3am and told

us it would flood today. But still we didn't really expect it

to happen as powerfully The hostel's position on the banks

of the river is part of its appeal. Managers insist closure

was never an option. We kept the hostel open even though

we could not use the ground floor, we had separate access

round the back so people Now we are delighted we have

finished the refurbishment. Today, they celebrated with speeches

and a lunchtime party. The fact it has taken 16 months

for flood damage communities to recover is no reflection

of the place or people. And the reopening at Keswick

YHA is one more step For some, a special

reason to celebrate. The opportunities available

to inspire young people. The YHA is really important

for young people because it provides Those opportunities outdoors

or seeing things in a different way can be life-changing

as it was for me many years ago. Mark McAlindon, BBC

Look North, Keswick. Well, staying with the 2015 floods,

and the Jorvik Viking Centre in York was also hit hard,

closing the world-famous historic But this weekend, it reopens

after a multi-million-pound restoration, with the latest

animatronic characters, and even With much of the Jorvik

Viking Centre underground, the attraction was devastated

by the floods of December 2015. It has been closed to

the public ever since. To celebrate the future

and relaunch this weekend, the centre is making a new feature

of a world-renowned ancient stone cross discovered built

into the tower of St Andrew's Church in Middleton around 30 miles

north-east of Jorvik. If it hadn't been built into

the tower, it would have weathered. These are probably the best

preserved Viking pieces When they came from Norway

and they ransacked the Lindisfarne area, and they came over,

the actually settled this area and they were farmers

and ran everything here. Now a replica of this

1000-year-old Viking cross carved by a York Minster

stonemason will take pride of place at the newly renovated

Jorvik Viking Centre this weekend. As well as the cross

and countless other additions, the historic ride through time has

been extended to 60 minutes and upgraded with state-of-the-art

animatronic figures from the past. We have a lot of new features,

a lot of new themes. We have done a lot with it, removed

walls so it feels more spacious. The newly restored

Jorvik Viking Centre Be warned, the last time I went,

those smiles stayed with me for weeks!

The kids love it. Far too realistic. Getting tense in

Premiership. Middlesbrough take on Burnley

at the Riverside this weekend surely aware that anything less than three

points could make their relegation fight insurmountable in their first

season back in the Premier League. Boro's defeat at rivals

Hull City leaves them seven Both sides at the KCom Stadium

knew this was a game Hull have won five out

of six home games under new boss Marco Silva but,

after having an early effort ruled out for offside,

the home team went behind to a smart finish from Boro striker

Alvarro Negredo, with head coach Steve Agnew committed

to a more attack-minded approach. The lead was short-lived,

however, and Hull hit back with three first-half goals

on a rare off-night for England Agnew was frustrated that solving

a problem at one end of the pitch And everybody takes

responsibility for We win as a team, we lose as a team,

it is not just the defenders but the shape of the team

that wasn't right. That is why we conceded

the four goals. January signing

Rudy Gestede has done However, some hope was

controversially restored just before half-time with Gibson directing

a corner towards goal, and Marten de Roon heading home

from an offside position. But an excellent Hull killed off

the Boro challenge when an unmarked Sadly, by the time the bottom two

play their rearranged Tees-Wear derby later this month,

both clubs could be Well, both Middlesbrough

and Sunderland are only too well aware of what relegation

would cost them. If they needed any confirmation,

Newcastle United's end-of-year financial results don't

make happy reading. after tax in 2016 in a dreadful

season which ultimately saw the Magpies drop out

of the top flight. Magpies managing director

Lee Charnley says the impact of relegation is "

difficult to overstate". That will only become clear

in the results out in June. But the difference in TV income

alone is staggering. Newcastle earned ?12 million

from their 16 live televised games This season, their 18 televised

matches in the Championship Meanwhile, the referees' governing

body has apologised for a bizarre blunder during Newcastle's 1-0 win

over Burton Albion which took the Magpies back to the top

of the Championship. With the match goalless,

United's Matt Ritchie scored from the spot,

only for it to be ruled Referee Keith Stroud then

incorrectly awarded Burton an indirect free-kick,

instead of allowing Newcastle With the stakes so high

for promotion back to the Premier League,

it's probably just as well for the officials that Ritchie did

find a spectacular winner. I was talking with the referee,

obviously, we know what he thinks. But I will not keep talking

about that because you For me, it was an important game

we had to win, get three points. A fantastic goal, great

performance of the players. Unfortunately we will talk

about the incident but I prefer we don't talk too much

because it is clear for everyone. You don't want controversial

decisions to decide The only thing, I didn't think

it was a penalty in the first place. And we understand that referee

Keith Stroud will not now take charge of a League One match

on Saturday after his Last night, we looked ahead

to what's going to be a difficult cricket campaign

for Durham following relegation. But happier times for Yorkshire

who narrowly missed out on their third successive

County Championship The Tykes have a new coach

and a new captain. And new England skipper Joe Root

was keen to get his hair Smiles in the spring sunshine

at Headingley as the Yorkshire 2017 squad faced a mass ranks

of the press early this morning. Among the famous faces,

some familiar names and newcomers. To come here and play with the likes

of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, some extraordinary batsmen,

I will be trying to The 25-year-old Australian might not

see too much of his county team-mate who will spend much

of the season captaining England. It is play it by ear and obviously

that is always up to the ECB what they want us to play

and managing workloads and make sure you are at your best

when you represent England. The start of the season I will be

playing against Hampshire As County Championship in 2014

and 2015, Yorkshire narrowly With the new coach in former captain

Andrew Gale taking over from Jason Gillespie,

what will he bring? My challenge is not to change things

too much but put my own stamp on it. That is what I will

try to do over winter. I am confident we have a group

of players, there is definite talent to win trophies,

it is about having the right mindset He knows the players,

how to get the best, he has led them for six years,

he knows them inside out. In the short term that

is what is important. The lads have reacted really

well to his appointment. I am sure he will grow into the role

over the next few years The new season starts

on Friday at Headingley. Who better than Yorkshire England

captain to set the Tykes en route Now, could they be the police

officers of the future? Today, a group of newly-recruited

mini-police got to visit Northumbria Police's marine training

unit in Jarrow. Well, it's part of an initiative

to improve relations with the community as well as teach

children about safety Alison Freeman went

to find out more. A special delivery for these

budding young cops. Uniforms for Northumbria Police's

first ever mini-police. An initiative which will see these

year five pupils learn about the police over

the next 12 months. Today's visit was to the force's

marine unit in Jarrow. How is that?

Can you let me out! A big experience.

It has been really fun. I have seen the police boats and

looked around and I even put on a diving mask.

It is really good being a mini-police, I might want to be a

real police when I am older. Does it make you think about the

police? Before, I thought they were scary

that they are my best friends. It feels good, I haven't chatted to

police before. Is it possible strategy to persuade

them to become police? That could be an impulse because you

have been applauded for being a member of the mini-police.

You can't do policing unless you work with the community. Parrots are

here watching the kids. It is good that public confidence.

There goes that behaviour check, a policeman will tell you off!

Mostly dry weather again today, it continues the most of us as we head

into the weekend. And East- West split as displayed by this weather

watcher picture, grey skies over the lakes. The sun did come out over the

traditional temporary beach in Newcastle.

Tomorrow, the split will be less defined, most places dry, varying

amounts of cloud. Temperatures will start to rise especially at the

weekend. Overnight, it stays largely dry, a

lot of cloud in the West. Clear spells further east.

There will be enough patchy cloud and a breeze to stop temperatures in

most cases dropping lower than six Celsius.

Like last night, one or two places might see temperatures low enough

for windscreen frost first thing tomorrow but it will be localised.

Tomorrow, mostly dry, the best of the weather in eastern areas.

Further west, more cloud but it will be more keen to break at times,

sunny intervals for Cumbria. The winds turning to a south-westerly

direction. Temperature is the most places in

double figures. Highs of around 14 Celsius. The

winds stayed pretty light. This is because of this

high-pressure which has been dominating over the last few days.

As it shifts further eastwards, it brings in a south-westerly breeze at

the weekend which will help lift temperatures. This weather front in

the North West conversely will thicken the cloud at times from that

direction. A mostly dry day tomorrow, the best

in the east, temperatures in the low teens.

With the weekend stays largely dry, some sunny spells, not unbroken

sunshine on Saturday, temperatures up to 15 in places. Sunday, a bit

warmer, highs in the afternoon of that is great, thank you. You are

looking at me suspiciously now! Too much enthusiasm!

Join us again after the Ten O'clock News.

Stacey and Chris are preparing for marriage by spending

a few days living alone with their in-laws to be,

and asking them all kinds of questions.

Did you get a kiss on the first date? No.

What does their in-laws' marriage tell them about each other's

I expect you'll want to become a schoolmaster, sir.

That's what most of the gentlemen does that get sent down

for indecent behaviour. Evelyn Waugh's classic novel.

Have you ever been in love, Mr Pennyfeather? No, not yet.

The fire escape is very dangerous and never to be used.

I've got spit on them now, haven't I?

HORN BEEPS That car.

John, John, you've got mud all over your pants. Come here.

I've got spit on them now, haven't I?