20/04/2017 Points West

thank you. That's it from us. They will be

Our headlines tonight: night on

Hundreds of lives could be saved with quicker access

And how do you stop this invasive creature taking over our rivers?

And we continue this run of dry or largely dry river is right through

the week. Details at the end of the programme.

Hundreds of lives could be saved if people with hip fractures

are operated on more quickly, according to the biggest study

Researchers at Southmead Hospital analysed 250,000 patients and found

fewer died if they'd made it into the operating

Here's our Health Correspondent Matthew Hill.

Doreen has just had an operation to mend her hip

I couldn't get up, so I then crawled over, because I knew my handbag

was behind the chair and I could get my

Unfortunately, it was about 14 inches away.

I could not, in any way, touch that bag.

So after about an hour and a half, I managed to get artificial flowers.

I managed to find the longest one, which I hooked round the handle

and managed to get the handbag and get the phone.

I phoned my son and he was over within quarter an hour.

She was operated within 36 hours her fall.

She was operated within 36 hours of her fall.

Hospitals are given a bonus payment if they are able to get patients

such as Doreen into the operating theatre within a day and a half.

This patient broke her hip last night, yet she is

A study here at Southmead suggests that if patients

get their operation within 24 hours, more lives could be saved.

Southmead is the leading hospital in the country when it comes

to gathering data about how patients do after their operations.

Researchers have analysed more than a quarter of a million

8% more patients died if they were operated on between 24

and 36 hours compared to those given surgery within 24 hours,

and the risk increased to 20% for those receiving surgery

There are certain patients who benefit from greater

time to get them better, before their surgical procedures.

Surgical procedures are not without risk.

They are only one part of the care we need to give them.

We need to support them with their falls health,

bone health, getting up their independence and mobility.

It is one important part of their care.

I think we have shown for the first time that early surgery in those

patients we can get better quicker, is much better for them.

The huge data base that Southmead has built up helps identify

those hospitals that have higher death rates.

The latest registry shows that patients having a hip fracture

operation at the Gloucester Royal have been far more likely

For example, in 2014 the death rate was 12.5% compared

Weston General Hospital is also identified as an outlier.

Weston Trust say they realised they needed to do better and have

already introduced a number of measures to improve outcomes.

Gloucestershire Royal say their latest figures are now

The Green Party chose Bristol to launch their General

The hastily arranged event came just 48 hours

after the Prime Minister, Theresa May, named

And the Greens have their own radical plan

Here's our political editor Paul Barltrop.

Surely the most spectacular setting for a campaign launch...

Bristol West is the Green's top target.

At the 2015 general election they came second behind Labour,

so today they've brought both their party leaders

They'll be back plenty of times before June the 8th.

They've already got councillors in a city where being

Also popular in a constituency which voted overwhelmingly

to remain in the EU is their opposition to Brexit.

It's so vital that we send a clear message.

We've got a government who've listened so much to Ukip.

Ukip have said jump, and they've said "how high?"

They're not the only party saying that.

In fact, they're now offering an electoral deal with Labour

For example, in Gloucestershire they'd co-operate to take

In Stroud, the Greens reckon they could win

Labour would be given a clear run at the Tories in Gloucester.

And the Lib Dems would have less competition in trying

So many people live in so-called safe seats where their votes don't

count, so we want to look at marginals, see if we can have

some discussions with other parties, and see if there can be an agreement

around perhaps having paper candidates from some parties.

So we would put more emphasis on one of the other ones

Labour dismiss any idea of backroom deals, and will aim to stand

And officially, the Liberal Democrats are cool to the idea.

But their former leader adopts a different tone.

Paddy Ashdown today put out a statement saying: "Well done

the Greens for reaching out for sensible seat arrangements...

Labour and the Lib Dems should respond positively."

We'll know whether the Greens have got anywhere when candidates

Paul Barltrop, BBC Points West, Bristol.

Bath's Conservative MP Ben Howlett won't face any charges

after an allegation of sexual assault was made

Mr Howlett wasn't arrested at the time, but went to a police

In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service says there isn't

Mr Howlett has always "strenuously denied any wrongdoing".

Tickets to hear the US Senator Bernie Sanders speak

at the Festival of Ideas, in Bristol this June, sold out

The politician and activist campaigned to become

the Democratic candidate to run for the White House,

His talk at St George's is expected to give an insight into his election

campaign and his hopes for the future of the United States.

A group of volunteers in Somerset has been pulling on their wellies

and wading into the water, in a bid to rid our rivers

The American Signal Crayfish is killing off our native variety

Sally Challoner has been to see the project on Exmoor.

An army of volunteers and experts descend

Their mission isn't easy - to track down, and remove

or sterilise the invasive American crayfish.

Nicky Green is running the project - she's in the middle of a PhD to see

if this method can bring some kind of balance back to the ecosystem.

They've laid traps along a stretch of the river.

Today she and the volunteers are checking them.

Quite a young one, probably no more than a year old, this one.

It's a male, you can tell by the things we call pleopods,

Signal crayfish are an invasive species, introduced

in the 70s as a potential diversification for farmers.

But they spread, killing our native white-clawed crayfish,

damaging river banks, eating food that fish rely on.

If they are left unchecked, they will basically

They will, you know, wipe out all the invertebrate

life, plant life, fish, and all sorts of stuff.

There are many examples of water courses in the south-east of England

where literally the only wildlife in the river is crayfish.

Part of the funding for this trial comes from the Environment Agency.

They're interested to see if this method can be

We are returning the big breeding males, having sterilised them,

so that they basically think they are mating with females,

So you have fewer eggs hatching out the following spring,

which is what we are starting to check now.

So far, from two years trapping, we have caught about 6500 crayfish.

That's on just over a kilometre of river.

What we have found is that the catch rates over the two years

By training volunteers, Nicky hopes the work will continue,

even after the funding ends this year.

Sally Challoner, BBC Points West, on Exmoor.

Chris Packham has been cleared of charges of assault in Malta. The BBC

Spring watch presenter is on the island filming a documentary on

illegal bird trapping. He says he and his production team were shoved

and that they were the party who are abused in the situation.

Before we get the forecast with Ian and the national weather,

It's your chance to see 'A Mayor for the West of England',

a special debate that answers all your questions

about the upcoming Metro Mayor elections in May.

That's all coming up in a few minutes time,

but first I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian.

Good evening. We have a pulse of somewhat warmer air coming across us

tomorrow. Inherently it will be a fairly warm day. A lot of cloud

around, I suspect we will see some brighter spells developing in places

through the afternoon. Once again, it will be effectively a dry picture

with just the chance of one or two light showers perhaps in the south

as we go further on through the day. We have been losing some light

showers through the course of this evening, tonight 's temperatures

will be comparatively mild. Compared to some recent nights, ever be

around seven or 9 degrees. As we head into tomorrow morning, it's

looking like a dry start. A bit of brightness around but generally a

lot of cloud. Through the afternoon, some of that cloud breaking up with

pockets of brighter or even sunny weather. Equally the chance of one

or two light showers. I would emphasise, most places will be

staying dry. The light, it will feel rather warm, getting up to about 14

or 16 degrees. If the sun breaks we will easily achieved 16 degrees in

some spots. Reversing the trend into Saturday, somewhat cooler air from

the north. It's looking overwhelmingly a dry picture, into

the weekend. Turning week for much of the UK and for more

about that and the UK outlook, Helen Willetts.

The sunshine make such a difference this time of year, only 12 or so

degrees under the cloud today but 19 in eastern Scotland not far away

from St Andrews. Also in north-east England, where we had the majority

of the decent sunshine. Even under cloud it was dry for the most part.

We have this week whether forgiving showers in the south. This weather

front starting to pep up in the North, it'll change