20/01/2017 North West Tonight

12 hour shifts without a break, faulty equipment and patients' lives

Just some of the shocking claims made tonight by two whistle-blowers

Yesterday, the service was told it has to improve

But the whistle-blowers say the true scale of the problem

Abbie Jones has this exclusive report.

It's got to the point where I think people's lives are in danger.

the stress that everyone is under at the moment.

You might go to a bad job which might affect you,

but you aren't allowed to let that affect you because you've got

They work on the front line and say they and their

These ambulance staff have put their jobs

We've disguised their faces and their voices

The public needs to know how understaffed we are.

Yesterday's Care Quality Commission report found

one in six paramedic posts were unfilled when inspectors

visited, meaning extra workload for staff.

But, these whistle-blowers say, also putting lives in danger.

You've got paramedics and you've got emergency medical technicians,

EMTs, who aren't trained to do exactly

If they're sent out, a paramedic is promised

but nine times out of ten, there's not staff

And EMTs are left with the families screaming at them to do things.

Because you've got a patient who can't have treatment then.

Because they can't give the treatments that's required.

The CQC found that between December 2015 and made 2016, there

were over 2500 incidents where front-line staff waited over

Staff go home wondering what they could have done,

Patients are in a life-threatening situation and they're

The whole system needs looking at because it just isn't working.

These whistle-blowers say its equipment as well

as staffing that is woefully lacking.

You do, like, a makeshift or you're stealing things from other

Some doors don't even open from the outside,

so if there's an accident, you wouldn't be able to get out.

These men say they've complained to managers that change hasn't

happened, that they and the public desperately need protection, that

speaking out is their last resort to make that happen.

The North West Ambulance Service has admitted in a statement tonight

that there have been delays in back up ambulances arriving.

It blames more call outs and pressure on the NHS.

It says staff taking breaks depends on the number of incidents

And that it's addressed issues with equipment and has worked hard

to put right the issues the CQC and the whistle-blowers raised.

The Manchester family devastated by a road crash in Saudi Arabia

have been remembered during Friday prayers in Manchester.

A baby boy and his grandparents were among those killed

The child's mother, brother and sister

were injured in the accident which claimed six lives in all.

Our chief reporter, Dave Guest, has more.

Friday prayers in Manchester for lives lost so many miles away.

At the Central Manchester Mosque, they're remembering a local family

who are mourning four members, killed when their

minibus crashed in Saudi Arabia.

They'd been on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

And we pray specifically for this family who lost their lives

Among the dead, Adam Anis, just two months old.

Adam is pictured here with his grandfather, Mohammed Kurshid,

He was a very, very jolly, friendly and such a beautiful human being.

Mr Kurshid's wife Nosheena, and her sister Rabia also died,

along with two relatives from Glasgow.

Baby Adam's mum, Atika, was also injured along

with her other children aged two and three.

So too were three other members of their group

who had been aboard the minibus when it crashed on a motorway while

18 members of the family flew out to Saudi last night to comfort those

who survived and to attend the funerals of those who didn't.

Those funerals were due to happen today in

the holy city of Medina, the place where they had been

It is a time of sadness, but I think the family

should take some kind of solace in the fact that they will be

The mother of a man, who was shot by police,

has told the inquiry into his death she believes it was murder.

Father of two Anthony Grainger was shot

by a firearms officer from Greater Manchester Police in 2012.

The force believed Mr Grainger was part of a group

A man who used a blow torch to dry roof timbers

at a hotel on the Isle of Man, causing ?17 million of damage,

was told by a judge today that he'd come "within a whisker"

64-year-old Roy Cross had been carrying out repairs

at the Mount Murray in November 2013.

He was found guilty of three health and safety breaches

Steven Gerrard is returning to Liverpool as a coach.

He'll take up a position within the Academy and help

He would seem the perfect choice, having started

as a youngster at the Academy himself, and spending the next

17 years at Anfield, making more than 700 appearances

Liverpool say he'll bring "invaluable experience and expertise

garnered from a glittering career at the highest level."

One football result to bring you tonight

and Bury have drawn 2-2 at Port Vale.

Both Shakers goals coming from James Vaughn.

much brighter. Good evening. Today was a bit chilly actually at times.

We had plenty of sunshine. We are going to see the warm air continuing

to flow away over the weekend so Saturday and Sunday will be chilly

but it should be mostly dry and in fact, tonight, mostly dry already

very cold underneath clear skies. You can see Frost already forming.

Light winds and we may seize and fog patches here and there as well. In

terms of temperatures, because it is so cold, we will see them dropping

below towns and cities and definitely in many rural areas so

expect a chilly start tomorrow morning. Some of fog patches

lingering for a time. Frost slaughter clear. This buzz of

sunshine expected in the afternoon, light winds. Turning cloudy much

later in terms of temperatures, disappointing because it is cold.

Top temperature of four or 5 degrees tomorrow. Tomorrow night a bit

cloudy but it will be called, loads of -2 or maybe -3 super Sunday,

another cold day, a bit cloudy and the outlook

feel cooler. Can we keep it going until the start of the new week? I

suspect we can. Unconfirmed about -- concerned about the fog around. Here

is Helen with the national picture. Good evening. The weather is upon

us. The cloud has made all the difference this week in particular.

We have had some wonderful weather watcher pictures, this is Marlowe in

Buckinghamshire, this was Conwy earlier in the day. Some areas still

have the cloud. What a difference that makes. Edinburgh, the central

lowlands, plagued by this band of narrow cloud, overnight more