22/12/2016 South Today - Oxford

Trying to save almost ?500 million.

Plans that will see the biggest changes

to the NHS in our region in decades are officially published.

a plea not to pour Christmas leftovers down the drain.

And the outdoor advent calendar inspiring people to explore Stowe's

a report into the future shape of health services across the area

The draft report sets out areas that could see

changes at hospitals and in the way care

There have been regular protests against the possible downgrading

of the Horton Hospital in Banbury and there are fears that some

Earlier I asked out political reporter Bethan Phillips how much

more information has now come to light.

Well, this is the 112 page document, but somehow, it's still quite short

If you're hoping to find out what's going to happen to your

local hospital or GP service, you might well be disappointed.

In fact, local health bosses have admitted

there is still no date for when those details will be released.

We're being told options are still being worked on.

But today's draft does confirm that changes are being considered

Including two emergency care, maternity

Well, the fact is, there is a big funding gap in our health services.

This plan covers west Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

It is expected there will be a funding gap of ?480

million by 2021, that's around a fifth of what is being currently

spent on health services and because details haven't been

released of what's going to happen, it's led to a lot of speculation.

Campaigners for the Horton feared the hospital

could lose its A E service along with other services as well.

Oxfordshire's Green party says all community hospitals could close

Cherrywood District Council says if cuts to the

Horton go-ahead, that will mean those that need health services

They're looking for ways where they can find savings,

sizeable savings, quickly and easily.

But they are doing it on the back of the most vulnerable people

The county and the wider area and that cannot be right and

Some people say this is a chance to change our NHS for the better.

These plans are going on across the country.

They are called sustainability and transformation plans.

The influential think tank the King's Fund says it's important

as an opportunity to change health care services for the better, but

some people would argue it's very difficult to do that at the same

time as cutting a big chunk of money out of the budget.

A Sunday league footballer from Swindon is facing jail

after breaking an opponent's ankle in a foul.

Dayne Lewis-Peapell was found guilty of unlawful wounding

after the tackle in a game between G-Power Solutions

Thames Water says cooking fat has caused nearly 40,000 blockages

in the sewage system so far this year.

The company says the problem gets worse around Christmas

and is appealing to people not to put fat down the sink.

Ben Moore has been to their treatment plant in Reading.

Whilst we hope that this raw sewage doesn't put

you off your Christmas dinner, it's turkey and all the trimmings

At Thames Water, they're glad it isn't Christmas every day

because at this time of year there's festive filth in the filters.

And do you notice a difference as we get into Christmas?

Oh, yes, a lot more tinsel, more fat as well.

It just builds up and sticks to everything, makes everything ten

This is the raw sewer inlet and, believe me,

Over the Christmas period, they start to pull more exotic

Half eaten food, especially, of course, Brussels sprouts,

and sadly over the Christmas period, a lot more deceased pets.

But the big nightmare before Christmas is fat.

As people cook their dinners, many drain it down the sink.

It then congeals deep underground and forms what are called fatbergs.

We ask everyone right across the country, please

look after the three Ps, three Ps only down the toilet

Please put your fat in a jar, put it in the bin and that

Festive feasting is doing some good, the methane produced

Across the Thames water region, we make enough energy to power

So the power could go to TVs on Christmas Day to watch

It will be cooking thousands of turkeys, you just won't even know

So give yourself an extra helping and pile on the pounds -

The next two days are expected to be among the worst this

Along with the extra traffic on the roads,

there'll no trains into Paddington after tomorrow night.

Our transport Paul Clifton has been at Reading station.

I asked him whether getting away is going to be worse

If this was a panto production, we would all shout

The people who monitor traffic jams can't seem to decide whether today

is the worst day to travel, or whether it is tomorrow.

And plenty of rain in the weather forecast won't help.

On the railways, at least we know exactly what will happen.

There will be no Great Western trains, at all,

into Paddington station for several days.

It is shut from eight o'clock tomorrow night.

So you have to head home early or not at all.

But for people travelling from Oxford there is now

an alternative route to Oxford - the new Chiltern Railways line

Two years ago this has went spectacularly wrong.

Network Rail's contractors over-ran, they finished late, they forgot

The result - tens of thousands of passengers stranded.

It will help facilitate the introduction of the Crossroads

service. It allows us to do work that we wouldn't be able to do at

Two years ago this has went spectacularly wrong.

Network Rail's contractors over-ran, they finished late, they forgot

The result - tens of thousands of passengers stranded.

I can't say that it won't happen, but certainly, the relationship has

got significantly better since then we've not seen anything like that.

We also have more routes open to us, there is the Marylebone route and

the Waterloo route and also the route into Ealing Broadway, which is

quite important, because that Ben is just a ten minute journey by tube

into Paddington itself. On Saturday, we are told there will be eight

third more cars on the road than normal. 12 million. I hate to be the

harbinger of doom and gloom, but you have been warned.

There are only two more Advent calendar doors

But one of the country's largest and most unusual Advent calendars,

in Buckinghamshire, can be explored right through the holidays.

24 doors have been hidden in the vast gardens at Stowe,

as part of a festival celebrating the work of Capability Brown.

I think we are supposed to go that way.

I think that's ready Christmas tree is.

It's an advert on a monumental scale.

It gives an opportunity to restore the

naturalistic landscapes made by England's most famous gardener.

We are out in the fresh air and surgeon.

We are in the church, it's marked by the Christmas tree

Today's head and is inside the church hidden in the Christmas tree.

It was here that capability Brown was married. Capability also created

the state's revered Grecian Valley, for thinking the then fashion for a

formality in favour of natural flowing lines. We're walking down

the Serpentine pad which leads down the valley. You create surprisingly

Getty said in view. Views which include the recently recreated

circle of the dancing phone. He has been inspiring for me. It's amazing

to follow in his footsteps and reinterpret his work. The last is

hidden in the jewel in the crown of capability Greason Valley, the

Temple of Concord and victory. Still gardens will be closed on Christmas

Eve and Christmas Day, it reopens on Boxing Day and the head and orders

were still busy to exploring to the end of the first week in January.

Alexis has the details into the Christmas weekend.

Overnight tonight, we are expecting if you

clear spells, which may lead to a touch of Frost

With the increasing breeze from the south, we are

expecting the frost to be kept at bay by the breeze.

Temperatures tonight in the countryside will drop to around

These are the temperatures in our towns and

Tomorrow morning, it will be a chilly start.

Some bright and sunny spells initially, but through

the course of the morning, the cloud will start to gather

and will see one or two outbreaks of light rain.

That will be first thing, until the rain arrives Genie

afternoon and I could be happy into the evening,

Temperatures during daylight hours tomorrow will reach

As I said, after dark tomorrow, the rain could be quite

Once it does, Christmas Eve, we are looking at a pleasant

day with some sunny spells, cloud building

through the afternoon and

this warm front will arrive during the course of the afternoon on

With it, a lot of cloud, but the air behind it will be

So Christmas Day is looking very mild indeed, with a

It may well be the warmest day, Christmas Day, on record.

itself, it's not white, but it's warm. Temperatures could reach 15.

I suppose you could say today was the calm before the storm. A winter

chill, plenty of sunshine, but more wintry showers in Scotland, more

snow over the higher ground. Some of this snow will melt for a time

tomorrow because there is wind and rain coming in from the Atlantic. So

we'll leave the Highlands behind, head out and look at the cloud here,

this tell-tale hook of cloud, signifies a storm is developing,

this is Storm Barbara, of course, it is a deep and deepening area of low

pressure, rushing towards the north-west of Scotland.

Steppingening the winds and bringing rain into the north-west by tomorrow

morning. Ahead of it fairly quiet. Already the showers in the north

less wintry. Fewer and clearer skies, across England and Wales for

a time, it could be chilly. One or two mist and fog patches. Out to the

west winds pick up later, cloud increases and the rain arrives and

very