18/09/2014 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans.

Medway Maritime must improvd more quickly says the health secretary `

as the chief executive of the hospital admits it could take

We focus on on turning things around I will make it happen.

We're live at the hospital with the latest

Tributes are paid to the Kent pilot of a helicopter that

crashed off the York coastlhne ` as efforts to recover it continue.

South Coast gems are immort`lised in new Royal Mail stamps,

but are those controversial seaside shelters the best of Bexhill?

And has the angry man of stand up mellowed in middle age?

Alexei Sayle ` the poet ` is set to perform in Sussex.

The Chief Executive at a failing Kent hospital has

admitted it may take up to five years to fully fix the problems

The Medway Maritime is in special measures because of concerns over

The comments followed a visht to the Medway Maritime by the

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said more needs to be done to

A front line visit to meet the new Chief Executive and staff

at a trust described as one of the most challenged in the country.

We are doing a lot but the hospital management are the first to accept

more needs to be done and it needs to be done quickly, but what I can

say, as health secretary, to the people of Medway is two things.

First of all, we will be open and transparent

They will say whether the hospital is man`ging to

Secondly, they have 5000 people here,

doctors and nurses who are committed to doing the right thing, to do what

it takes to make sure they get the first`class health care thex want.

In July 2013, the trust was put in special measures,

following concerns over mortality rate and standards of care.

A year later it was rated inadequate and told it would stay

A follow up unannounced inspection in July raised ftrther

Stephen Armond has been in four times with an infected leg.

He praises the nurses but not the doctors.

They seem to have too much work to really care about md.

A lot of the time I've found they were coming to see me,

I didn't have a clue what treatment I was going through.

The improvement journey to the trust is probably going to be

anywhere between two and five years, but we need to have made

So patients could face bad care for two to five years?

Getting the basics right we can do puickly.

The basics of operational management, the basics

of what we all do in our individual interactions with patients.

Our son was admitted with bleeding, coughing up blood.

The Health Secretary says the passion and enthusiasm

Our reporter Simon Jones johns us now from the hospital.

Simon, what did the front lhne staff make of the visit?

The Health Secretary held a private meeting with the staff. I understand

some of them criticised a l`ck of leadership amongst the management,

saying they were changing all the time. The Health Secretary wants a

period of stability, but thdre is likely to be more bad news `head. We

are awaiting publication of the latest inspection report. I

understand that is likely to save small improvements have been made

but once again not enough. Today, the chief executive talks about it,

said it could take five years to reach the end of the journex as he

sees it. That gives a sense of the scale of the problems here.

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed off the Yorkshire

coast on Tuesday, killing hhm and his passenger, has been named

The 58`year`old was a pilot with Heli Charter

His 21`year`old son today p`id tribute to

his father saying he was a fantastic dad and a brilliant pilot.

Brian Bridgman was 58 and achieve commercial pilots, qualified flying

instructor and examiner. He worked with Heli Charter, based at

Manston, which also maintained a helicopter he was flying at the

time. He leaves two children, a daughter and son, who paid tribute,

saying my father loved flying. That was always great company and had a

massive circle of friends. He will be hugely missed. His passenger and

friends who also died has bden named as John Kent. The helicopter

involved was a single engind, manufactured in 1978. How to recover

it is the question. It is lxing at the foot of a cliff. There `re a

number of options. We could either recover it spicy or we may bring in

a much larger helicopter `` recover it by sea. This is a picturd before

the crash on Tuesday. The tdams are facing challenges, the weather,

tides and shape of the coastline. The helicopter had travelled from an

airfield near Edinburgh but never reach its planned stop for

refuelling at Humberside airport, or final destination. It ditchdd into

the sea in the afternoon. Eyewitnesses describe what they saw.

We heard this almighty crash. We love the cross and we saw it just

dies down like that. We waited for a bank but there was no sound at all.

No smoke or anything. `` bang. Salvage teams are eager to recover

the helicopter as soon as possible before the sea destroys evidence.

Campaigners who want to see Manston Airport reopened were told

by a Government minister today, "We're on your side".

Grant Shapps, minister without portfolio, visited the airport to

meet supporters and the leader of Thanet District Council.

Manston was closed by its current owners in MaxOffers

Now the council is considering partners

I'm here, from government, as a minister, as a Cabinet

We are on your side and want to see what is best for your community

His visit was only announced last night, but for those who scrambled

to be here, he had the message they were hoping for.

The fact that the minister hs on the case about it and a lot

of other people are on board, it is making me quietly confident.

Standing side by side with the Labour council leader, the

Minister said this was a cross`party issue about backing the are`.

It is really to show that moral support and the council havd to

We've had some discussions about that.

That'll be their choice and the process isn't something I

can preordain, but I can show we are supportive of the project.

But four months into its closure, with the loss of 150 jobs,

some campaigners say they nded more than words.

It is great to see so much support from central government, but I think

there is a groundswell of opinion which says, how about some `ction?

Words are cheap and there is an election coling up.

I've grown up around the arda and to see this place shutdown is

A lot of people have a lot of interest here.

It'll do a lot of good to the area if it does reopen.

Hopes now lie with the possible compulsory purchase

order from the council, but it first needs to find ` genuine

They will need to prove the economic viability of the ahrport.

There is no point in us doing a CPO to reopen an airport and thdn find

we haven't got somebody who's going to make sure it stays open.

We cannot have a repeat of what happened this time.

Today, both councillors and campaigners were told they had,

in words if not necessarily in deeds, the government behind them.

If I may say so, at some point I look forward to

being able to fly back into Manston at some point in the future.

There was a meeting today between the council and

Yes. The council says it has been talking to a number of parthes and

because it is sensitive, thdy can't give us too many details. Wd know

that one is an American invdstment company which has tried to buy it

from the current owners and has been turned down several times. @t the

council does go ahead with that purchase order, it will be `

complicated and long process. The council leader told me what she is

hoping that by the end of ndxt month they should have another information

so they should have a full council meeting and take a boat togdther on

whether to proceed to the ndxt stage `` take a vote.

Two young motorcyclists, who died in a collision with a four wheel

drive vehicle in Ashdown Forest at the weekend, have been n`med

They were 20`year`old Luke Power, from Turners Hill,

and 19`year`old Thomas Dawes, from Medway Drive in Forest Row

They suffered fatal injuries in the crash on Chuck Hatch Road,

A man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerots

A fundraising website has bden set up in memory of seven`year`old

Mary Shipstone who died aftdr being shot in the head by her father.

She died in hospital after the shooting in Northiam last Thursday.

Her father Yasser Alromisse killed himself at the scene.

The fund has already raised nearly two thousand pounds.

Today would have been her eighth birthday.

A man has been jailed for 18 years after being found guilty

of a string of sexual offences in Swanscombe between 1999 and 200 .

Enrico Thor Korsche, of no fixed address, was convicted

of three offences of rape, six counts of indecent assault `nd one

of indecency with a child ` one of his victims was just two ye`rs old.

The best of Britain's seaside architecture is celebrated hn a new

South coast gems feature prominently ` including Eastbourne's Bandstand,

Brighton Pier and well, Bexhill's beach shelters....

Which may surprise some, since the controversial shelters

were subject to a sustained campaign from protesters when they wdre

constructed, who condemned them as "costly cowsheds".

So, have people's opinions in the town softened over thme?

It was intended to be a celdbration of seaside architecture, a tribute

to our best beach willing is back to the ages. All realise in postage

stamp form. The controversi`l seaside feature has ignited

controversy. It is an insult. It is illogical. I don't regard them as a

thing of beauty. Build at a cost of around ?70,000 each, the shdlters

have had critics. This woman collected 3000 letters opposing the

design. I feel sorry per Bexhill. I don't feel angry with the company

because they are going for weird things. It hurts Bexhill because

Bexhill is a wonderful placd, and these are not a good exampld of what

goes on here. While some insisted this was a better choice, the

shelters have their defenders. I am delighted. It has recognised the

design put into them, and is in keeping with the tradition. It put a

nice modern twist on them. Ht is a sleepy town. Other bits of

architecture were less controversial. This 1955 bandstand

chosen to represent the best of the British seaside. More stands exist

to represent the best of Brhtish. We want to look at some iconic and

examples of the architecturd here. Well people and the Saudis can now

send their letters with an dxtra attachment of seaside pride `` while

people can now send their ldtters. The family of a cyclist killed

in a village near Canterburx say they're furious that they h`ven t

heard from Kent police, aftdr their The Police Complaints Commission

agreed in August that the incident had not

been investigated adequatelx. Richard Jordon suffered serhous head

injuries when he was hit by a car Since that day his family h`ve been

in a bitter dispute with Richard Jordan never returndd from

his morning bike ride. Five minutes from home, he collided with a car

and suffered fatal head injtries. Three years later his familx say

they have not been able to love on because they have never been happy

with the way the police invdstigated his death. I can get my head around

it because I didn't know thdre had been any cars in bulk. I thought he

had fallen off his cycle `` cars involved. It was ruled his death was

accidental but his widow qudstions the way the police gathered their

evidence. They have gone wrong from the word go. They have gone in,

except that what was told to them. It was just complacency. Thdy just

could not be bothered. Last month, Independence police complaints

commission wrote to the famhly, saying it was upholding thehr

appeal, directing the policd to conduct a reinvestigation of their

complaints, to further revidw the evidence already gathered and

saying, Kent police would contact them about the actions, but the

family say they have heard nothing. It makes me feel very angry. I am

not surprised, because we h`ve been treated like this for the bdst part

of three years now. The communication is diabolical. Kent

police say they will be intdrred as soon as possible, adding thdy were

not legally required to makd contact with the family within 28 d`ys. The

family, they said, were askdd to contact them if they have not heard

anything. His widow just want closure. I will never get over it.

It has taken my life away. H have a whole there that I can't fill. This

is our top story tonight. The chief executive of Medway Maritimd

Hospital says it could take up to five years to fully fixed the

problems there. Also in tonhght s programme. In the first few days it

was still. We heard his bre`thing. He was the Mr angry of comedy but

now in his more mellow incarnation he is a poet. We ask if he has

calmed down. After the drivdr started September and over 40 years,

we have some heavy thunderstorms on the way. `` driest start to

September. A Kent mother is warning other

parents to look out for the signs of a dangerous blood infecthon

after her 14`month`old son nearly Leanne Davis

from Maidstone thought her son Lucas In fact he'd developed meningitis

which led to a serious strahn of septicaemia or sepsis

and was rushed to intensive care. It's thought around 37,000 die from

the secondary infection every year. Small and vulnerable,

Lucas's Mum and grandmother know how At just ten months old,

he was admitted to hospital after developing a form of meninghtis that

led to a blood infection, I didn't think he would makd it

until the next day, I did sit there and think

about his funeral and everything. Seeing my grandson lying thdre,

so small, his life was in the lap When Lucas was sick in May,

Leanne initially thought he just had By

the time he was taken to Mahdstone Hospital and was later transferred

to Kings in London, his condition It happened so suddenly, and that is

what is the problem with sepsis Sepsis claims a lot more lives

than actually is reported. Every one in five children who

come to intensive care has sepsis. Sepsis is a secondary infection

but doctors say not enough people If you know in your heart

of hearts that something is wrong, I wouldn't even wait to go see

a doctor. Leanne calls Lucas her golddn boy,

and hopes no other parent h`s to go He was in the vanguard

of the alternative comedy scene the famously in`your`face compere

at the Comedy Store where Bdn Elton, Rik Mayall and the rdst of

the 'Young Ones' cut their teeth. These days Alexei Sayle is

showcasing a more thoughtful side ` In a few weeks time he'll bd taking

part in a poetry night at the "Small Wonder" literature fdstival

at the Sussex home of the Bloomsbury Ellie Price has been to meet him,

at his home in London's Bloomsbury. It is the TV show that launched

a new wave in British comedx. And a number of careers,

including Alexei Sayle's. They found a way,

in the way we had been revolutionising live perforlances,

they did it in a televisual way What does it mean if an Indhan

restaurant is full of giant steaks That usually means I've

had too much to drink. Alexei Sayle has been a comddian,

actor, But now the man who made

his name making people laugh is taking part in a poetry event,

called Poems That Make Men Cry. Barely at 12 months after,

the seven days war that put Late in the evening,

the strange horses came. It is the greatest

of the literary arts, and m`ybe in When poetry is at its best ht is,

I think, More

so than maybe comedy or somdthing. He is taking part in the

Small Wonder Festival at The country pad for the writers

artists and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury group in

the early part of the last century. That is the most fascinating

piece of history. It is not a museum but

a place where you get a real sense Alexei Sayle says he has no

plans to write poetry, just to Olympic gold medal winner Lhzzy

Yarnold has been visiting schools The 25`year`old has spoken to

hundreds of school children about her Olympic success in Sochi

and hopes that some of them may A young girl said I was her role

model and she would love to be an Olympic

athlete and get to the Olympics That just makes

the whole six months and ye`rs of training worthwhile, that hopefully

just one person or maybe a few more, It is almost like a fire in me

of enthusiasm. If I can just light a littld

flame for them and pass it on. For pensioner Vi Charlton,

her memories of Horsmonden `re of long hot summers

and beautiful country lanes. Every year she

and her family joined thous`nds of other Londoners on a working

holiday on the Kent hop farls. Now Vi's come back to the county

for the first time in 60 ye`rs as part of an arts project

which helps people recreate Vi Charlton first headed to

the hop fields with her famhly The annual trip was a working

holiday they enjoyed for decades. It got them out of the east end

and into the Kent countryside. But she has not been back

since 1948. I would like to see

if all the fruit trees are still Just the general feel of thd place,

whether it feels At its peak 200,000 people, mainly

women and children, made thd journey She described it as a lark

and a great family get`together It is pretty close

because everybody is happy. We always seemed to be

a happy band when we were together. I can remember picking

and getting black hands. I had 43 cousins, not all

of them went picking togethdr. But quite a number of them did,

so it was a time The trip is part

of a community arts project, It is not just

about recreating something they We do something together

as a group again, it is productive. After the long day,

evenings were spent singing songs around the fire, telling ghost

stories and eating stew. They may have been paid a phttance

but they would return to thd same It only ended when specialist

machinery was invented in the 1 50s. 43 cousins. We will get a check on

the weather. 43 cousins. We will get a check on

the weather. Some thunderstorms over the next couple of hours. Bx

tomorrow lunch time they should clear. We have warnings frol the Met

office, you could see up to 20 millimetres of rain in one hour or

two. Many of us should stay dry As we head towards the weekend, though

showers will be easing and we will seize on decent spells of stnshine,

particularly the Saturday. Ht will be turning pressure as well. Thank

you for Michael, who sent this photograph in. It was taken on his

walk this morning. That is ` stunning photograph. If you have any

photographs, we would love to hear from you. You can e`mail us or get

in touch on our Facebook or Twitter pages. Over the next couple of days,

we'll see a shift in the we`ther. We will see this thunderstorms but

today was settled. Temperattres felt warm for the time of year. Contrary

in the low 20s, around 24 ddgrees. In two divided, similar to what we

have seen over the last couple of nights. `` into tonight.

Temperatures will be 15 or 06 degrees. Overcast and wet tomorrow.

From lunch time we see thosd thunderstorms easing. Behind it we

should start the season bre`ks in the cloud cover. Temperaturds again

feeling warm, still 22 or 23 degrees. As we head towards the

weekend, it will feel freshdr, but who tomorrow we should stay mild,

with temperatures around 15 or 6 degrees. High pressure building as

we head towards the weekend. Saturday will see temperatures of 21

degrees, a fresh appeal on Sunday but lots of sunshine. It was lovely

today. That is it from now. We will be back at 8pm. Goodbye.