01/08/2013 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Nick Owen and Mary Rhodes. The

headlines tonight: We can cope - doctors in Stoke-on-Trent insist

they can handle the extra workload if services are moved there from

Stafford Hospital. We will work together with them to

provide the best care possible. We'll also be looking at the future

for Cannock Chase Hospital. Also tonight: Calls for a radical

overhaul of child protection in Coventry after the death of four-

year-old Daniel Pelka. Policing the EDL rally and a

counter demonstration in Birmingham nearly two weeks ago could cost the

West Midlands force �2 million. Pushing the boundaries - how otters

are moving into our urban waterways. And, although there's more hot,

sunny weather to enjoy this evening before it cools down again, what's

the weekend looking like? Find out Good evening. Doctors in Stoke-on-

Trent are insisting the city's hospital WILL be able to cope if

services have to be moved from Stafford under a radical shake-up

of the NHS in the county. Administrators yesterday

recommended cuts to maternity services, which would mean the

1,800 women who currently give birth in Stafford each year having

to travel elsewhere. The level of critical care would be altered and

paediatric services would be cut under the plan. Tonight, one Stoke

MP said she was concerned about the possible impact of moving services

from Stafford to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

The proposals will now go to a public consultation. Joanne Writtle

Two-day-old Leighton is one of 6,000 babies born at the University

Hospital of North Staffordshire every year. If plans announced

yesterday go ahead, there'll be a whole lot more. No babies would be

born at Stafford Hospital, meaning around 1,800 mums to be would

travel here to Stoke, or to other hospitals, including Wolverhampton.

We have only just seen the proposals but I know this unit has

capacity to expand and we will work with the trust special

administrators to see what it means for us. There is political

scepticism though. There is particular concern about maternity

services and we need to make sure there is investment here. There

might be Clear so-called solutions to what has happened in North

Staffordshire but those need to be carefully thought through though --

so that we don't get any unintentional consequences.

A&E here at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire deals with

the 120,000 patients a year and is home to one of the country's 22

major trauma centres taking in patients from as far afield as

North Wales and Shropshire. The plan is for A&E to remain open in

Stafford for 14 hours a day and would be run by the University

Hospital and despite a national lack of A&E consultants, will they

need more? We will have a single consultancy run into departments

which will require an expansion in consultant numbers so we will have

to recruit. Initially, there will be a shortfall. That will have an

impact on patient care, presumably? My team are quite happy to work

extra to enable us to do it. Like his newborn baby, plans are in

their infancy and while talks go on, services there will remain

Save Cannock Hospital campaigners today welcomed plans to move more

services there as part of the re- organisation of the NHS in

Staffordshire. Wards at Cannock had been left empty for years but that

could all change. The plan is for the hospital to be

run by the trust which operates Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

A rival proposal from Walsall's Manor Hospital was rejected, but

bosses there said today they would continue to make their case. Here's

our Health Correspondent, Michele For 19 years, Debbie Hubbard worked

at Cannock Hospital. Her daughter still does. Debbie's 14,000

signature petition was to keep the current hospital services and she

says staff are relieved. wording of the petition seems to

have been fulfilled and I am not naive enough to think the petition

did any good, but it was done for a reason. To make people aware that

cannot hospital is there and we are a good hospital.

The trust administrators have recommended keeping all the current

services, that more patients should convalesce nearer to home and

Cannock should do more planned surgery like breast, urology and

gynaecology. Royal Wolverhampthon Hospitals appears the preferred

bidder. Its boss wants to take over as soon as possible. It gives an

opportunity for us to transfer elective surgery from Wolverhampton

where we struggle because of the nerve of -- numbers of emergencies

and medical patients and a lot of elective surgery is getting

squeezed out. We can get 100 beds worth of capacity at Cannock.

But for Cannock to do surgery with overnight stays there are safety

issues to overcome. There is some concern these plans help

Wolverhampton Hospitals bring its patients to come back rather than

improving services for the people of Cannock.

Walsall's chief executive still wants and believes it can take over.

Richard Kirby believes that they would provide a more local service

and could fill most of the hospital. They haven't yet made a decision on

who will be the best person to provide those services and we hope

it is us because we made a strong proposal.

For campaigners - a dog fight over who can provide more is just what

Coming up later in the programme: Overwhelmed by public generosity,

the family of murdered teenager Georgia Williams talk movingly of

A mother and her partner will be sentenced tomorrow for the murder

of four-year-old Daniel Pelka. Daniel was beaten and starved

before his death from a head injury in Coventry last year. During a

nine-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court his emaciated body was

compared to a concentration camp victim. Mother Magdelena Luczak and

her partner, Mariusz Krezolek had denied murder.

Today, Coventry MP Geoffrey Robinson called for a full

investigation into how Daniel was let down by Coventry City Council's

Children's Services department. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

said there are a series of questions which must be answered.

We all ask the same question, how did this, -- how did this happen?

What happened when teachers saw him scavenge in bins? Apparently they

passed on information so why did no one act on it? When he went to

hospital and the mother spun a web of lines -- lies, what happened to

people's concerns? I'm joined now by Coventry MP

Geoffrey Robinson. Presumably you echo the sentiments of Nick Clegg?

What could and should have been done to prevent this tragedy from

happening? There is something wrong in the

accountability of individuals throughout the children's services

department, in particular, and schools to. The danger is we will

apportion responsibility through so many areas that we will lose sight

of what we really need to do. This is the third case of a baby death

of this kind. Perhaps the most horrific. But we had two others

also. And Khyra Ishaque in Birmingham.

In deed. Is it down to individuals or the system and bureaucracy and

red tape? You cannot divorce there too. Individuals create red tape

and it is implemented by individuals. For each of the last

three cases we have mentioned, we have had very high level and

sometimes judge level investigations. I believe that was

necessary. What clearly has come from that has not been a system

whereby we can be sure, or reasonably sure even, that the

lines of responsibility it and the level of responsibility within the

departments of state are clearly defined and the individuals who

hold them are held accountable. There is a Serious Case Review that

will be carried out by Coventry's Children's save barding board but

that is not enough for you? -- safeguarding board. There is a

great shame and anger in Coventry and that cannot be dealt with by a

Serious Case Review. That is essentially held in private. A who

should deal with it? -- who should deal with it? I don't think the

people in Coventry will be satisfied by that. What do they

want, do you believe? I believe they want a public and open inquiry.

Openness is the key so that we know what has happened and why it

happened and who is responsible. This isn't in any sense to try and

pin blame on people. It is to find out why the system goes wrong.

Despite three previous inquiries, we don't seem to have got anywhere

near that. I am saying let us have a clear-cut investigation,

preferably really buy a good group of business oriented people who

understand organisations and responsibilities, lines of

accountability. We must leave it there. Thank you very much.

Air India resumed direct flights between Birmingham and India today.

Similar flights were cancelled recently and since then thousands

have can -- campaign for them to be reinstated.

Dr Richard Taylor has announced he will stand for re-election in 2015.

He says he intends to stand again after serving between 2001 and 2010.

Last year he co-founded the National Health Action Party to

oppose changes to the NHS. A man who named a cat by shooting

it at close range with a capital -- at a board has been jailed for

eight weeks. The cat lost an eye. Nunn was traced by police because

the attack was captured on a surveillance camera.

A family cat maimed for life. Eleven-year-old Missed the was shot

in the I do with a marble. -- misty. The camera caught the attack on

film and she needed an operation to remove her I the next day. It was

an unprovoked act of cruelty to deliberately target a poor cat for

sitting on a wall with a well-aimed shot. Craig Nunn fired the weapon

as he was cycling by last month. Today, at Kidderminster magistrates

court he was jailed for eight weeks after admitting cruelty but a

request for compensation was turned down. We have a bill to pay, which

I don't think is right. I'm quite annoyed about it really.

The magistrates disqualified Nunn from keeping a cat for 10 years and

told him there Catt would suffer from her injuries for the rest of

her life. They told him that if he had thought for one moment about

his actions he would have realised it could have maimed or killed the

Cat. If it had not been for the camera, he would probably not have

been caught. The family have owned Missed the since she was a kitten

but says she won't be the same again. She will learn to live with

it now I suppose. Nunn admitted that he had been stupid.

The cost of policing last month's English Defence League March could

reach almost �2 million. The prediction came during a debrief

session at Birmingham's council house today. The initial cost on

the day was put at �1 million with more than 1000 officers deployed

from a total of 12 forces across the UK.

The meeting was organised by a bit share of the Council scrutiny

committee who joins us. How do you justify the expense? It is not

justified whatsoever in the current climate. Are policing budget is

depleted and we have had some huge cuts implemented by the government.

To pay up to �2 million for a date to allow individuals and groups to

come into the city to spread hatred in our city and try and divide our

city is unacceptable. What is the answer? I suggested to date to

senior police officers and the head of the English Defence League that

when there is a cost either for football matches etc, costs have to

be reimbursed. Surely then the only people who could protest are those

who can afford it? I am not against peaceful protest. But standing on

top of bus shelters and throwing missiles on to police officers is

not peaceful and it is not democracy. How did it cost so much?

It was the biggest operation in the history of West Midlands Police, I

know. We had hundreds of police officers on duty and a lot of

reassurance work with the community before hand. There has been

investigations and individuals have been arrested and I can assure the

police that further arrests will be Are top story: We can cope -

doctors in Stoke-on-Trent can handle the extra workload, they

insist, if services are moved there from Stafford hospital.

Also: The Football League season starts on Saturday and we will look

at the chances of our five sides in League 1.

And how to be an potter spotter on A man is in custody charged with

the murder of Georgia Williams. Her family have talked about the

support they have received since setting up a charity.

The last few weeks have been those a profound grief but her

grandfather says they have been overwhelmed by they support set-up

in the 17-year-old's name. She will never be forgotten or anything like

that. If something good comes out of it... It money has been raised

for at bench in her memory and her family have chosen the design and

location - here where she played as a child. It will be a place for

quiet reflection. At Wellington police station, they have taken

delivery of 5,000 wristbands. was an incredible demand for them

early on. People have really embrace the charity as a way of

showing support for a particular cause and we couldn't get hold of

them quickly enough. It has been extraordinary - the speed at which

we have been able to distribute them. The charity has a Web page

and events are planned. The family hope the trust fund will help keep

her memory alive. She won't be forgotten by people around here.

She will always be remembered for what she was and is and always will

be, I suppose. She... She was a fantastic hit. Her death was and

timely, but it is hoped that through the work of her charity,

We are fortunate to have a rich variety of wildlife here, but you

would not think of looking for it in the middle of our towns and

cities. A special programme this evening will reveal some of the

stories of otters and the sea gulls who never see the sea. One of the

presenters of Urban Jungle joins us now have from the centre of

Birmingham. How important our towns and cities to wildlife? Really

important. This is a hot spot for seagulls. Here in Birmingham, was -

and Gloucester seagull populations are increasing but at the coast

they are in decline. The urban jungle is important for sea gulls

This busy spot is full of people driving backwards and forwards, but

it is not just a few months doing this, because underneath our feet

there is a secretive but growing population of otters. How do we

know the elusive object is getting brave and heading into towns and

cities? My hunt begins here with Peter Sanders from Warwickshire --

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. What evidence do you have? If you follow

me here and look down there you can seek some Otter boom. Its proper

name is spraint. This is right beneath the traffic thundering

overhead. Yes, people wonder around day and night and they will not

have a clue as to what is going on down here. Down there, we can see a

whole series of otter footprints. That is fantastic. It is the

clearest one I have ever seen. The Pooh and prints are here so it

seems a good place to put a camera and that exactly what they have

done. The footage captured it -- surpassed our expectations. You can

see three pairs of eyes in the water. Could this be a mother and

her two cubs? We also got another Otter, I think the mother, spraying

on the stone we had a camera on and we were so chuffed to get that.

have been following their story of otters coming back to towns and

cities for a few years and I have seen tracks and Pooh, but this is

the first time we have caught three otters on camera in rugby. It is

proof that urban otters are real and back and right under our noses.

David, I'm sure a lot of people are watching and would love to see an

urban Otter. What are the chances? If you are on that retail park in

rugby you would be hard pressed to see the river as it is well hidden.

But urban otters are back and the great thing is they are going

further afield and linking two other waterways. So you have a big

and diverse population which is better for their long-term survival.

What else will we see tonight? went out with a proper wildlife

cameraman and you can see there are eight different species of Dahl in

a city centre. Some will fly from Birmingham and North Africa and

back and they could have up to 66 - - seagull. The population in

Birmingham it is growing. It is good news as the population on the

coast is in decline. Not so good if you want to hold onto your chips!

Urban Jungle is coming up straight after us.

The new football season starts on Saturday and fans here will have

more than a passing interest in League 1 as no fewer than five of

our clubs will be playing. The bookies at tipping all the

Hampton to win the division and Shrewsbury to finish bottom. --

Wolverhampton. Port Vale are the Midlands new boys

in League 1. They know they face a huge challenge this season, but

they believe they have what it takes to thrive. We have nothing to

fear in this league. There is no reason we cannot go into games

making sure we pick up points home or away. Eight games unbeaten last

season which helped them win promotion from League Two. The

manager says they have to keep the momentum going. We know what we are

up against. Teams with far greater finances than as so we know we have

to step up to the mark to do well. Shrewsbury Town were promoted to

League 1 last season and they had best doubles. The manager says they

have learnt a lot and they are now better equipped. We would like to

think we can be a top-order side. We learned from last season and

have got more and better players in. If we can push up to the top half

of the table that will be a decent season. If the League was not tough

enough, Coventry City are apparently dealing with huge of

sealed problems and they will play home games 35 miles away at

Northampton Town. The manager says the squad just has to focus on the

football. Unfortunately over the last few months it has been about

off-field activities but really it is about the supporters and

football. It will be great to get back to that. What do the bookies

make of the chances of our five West Midlands clubs? Wolverhampton

Art the favourites to win the division. Coventry, Port Vale and

Walsall are long shots with Shrewsbury been tipped to finish

bottom. Also, the bookie's favourite to be relegated. The

first of 20 Derby's is later this The best place to keep up to date

with our teams is on your BBC local radio stations.

The new football season always starts in sweltering sunshine and

what a scorcher today. Will it continue?

It would be nice, wouldn't it? But we established it was a one-day

As short as it was, it was also a very sweet because today's

temperatures surpassed all others. He threw reached 34 degrees Celsius

so it was the hottest day of the Now that today is almost over, the

France will be stacking up to the West. These will be cold fronts so

cooler and fresher conditions into the weekend. But we have a few

hours left of sunshine to enjoy and it is quite warm. We enter the

night with clear skies. As the first front heads in, the cloud

will thicken up and it will set off some light and patchy rain. A

Starting tomorrow on a cloudy know it and some of the rain will

increase along eastern parts of the region before clearing away.

Another feature heading in from the West which will trigger some

showers, some could be quite punchy. A fresh breeze from a southerly

direction. Showers could be on the heavy side tomorrow night but it

will end up dry and temperatures will not be as a press if. --

Are top stories: Lloyds Bank is back in profit, it has already made

�2 billion this year. Doctors in Stoke on Trent say they

can handle the extra workload if services are moved there from