08/09/2011 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's

programme: Backing up the system, the patients

waiting months for operations for crippling problems. They tried to

say life isn't worth living any more, of course it is, but it makes

it more difficult day by day. The battle for cruise control

between Southampton and Liverpool intensifies. If in the future

Liverpool invest in their facilities it is possible some

voyages would start in Liverpool, it would be popular for our guests.

Wading through the water in her back garden, now this woman's house

is under threat. And why this side is revealing the

A Hampshire man with a crippling back condition has been told he may

have to wait a year for an operation. Tony Hawkins, from

Winchester, can't walk more than a few yards without needing to rest.

But Southampton General says it has been inundated with spinal patients,

many from other hospitals. It is now having to pay private clinics

to take on some of the cases. Here is our health correspondent, David

Fenton. Tony Hawkins has stenosis of the

spine. Even this short walk to his kitchen exhausts him. Often, he

cannot move more than 15 yards without pausing for a rest. They

have tried to save life isn't worth living any more, of course it is,

but it makes it more difficult day- by-day. He needs an operation, but

it has taken five months just to see a consultant. He has no idea

when his treatment will start. took us months to see the

consultant, and then it to go further two or three weeks before

we learned that we are on the waiting list. I find that pretty

astounding. Hospitals should treat patients within 18 weeks, but there

has been a big increase in spinal cases. And as smaller hospitals

have stopped doing surgery, waiting times have increased. Today,

Southampton said it was it was "working to address the issue". It

is recruiting a new surgeon and it has also paid for patients to go

private. In a statement, it said: "We are aware Mr Hawkins and his

wife have concerns over his treatment and will be in touch with

them directly to keep them updated". But despite more than 50 letters,

emails and phone calls to the hospital, Tony's wife still has no

idea when or if he will be treated. You feel like you are in the dark,

like you are a bit of a nuisance. You are an NHS patient number, that

is all they ever ask you for. Tony's best hope now is for an

operation sometime next August. The subject of waiting times for

surgery came up yesterday in Prime Minister's Questions. The leader of

the Opposition accused the Prime Minister of having the wrong

priorities in the Health Service. Ed Miliband urged Mr Cameron to

explain why the number of people who wait longer than six months for

an operation has gone up by more than 60% since he came to office.

Does waiting for orthopaedic operations, up by 72%. Those

waiting for eye surgery, Mr Speaker, the country and I are at just

asking for a simple explanation from the Prime Minister, why has it

happened? The explanation is that the amount of time people are

waiting for an out-patient operation has actually gone down,

that is what has happened. As he knows, we have targets for 90% of

people to get their treatment within 18 weeks, and those targets

are being met. He may not like the trees, but that is the truth. -- he

may not like the truth. So what is the reality here in the

south? Here are a few examples from our hospitals of patients seen

within the 18-week period the Prime Minister mentioned there. The

figures are for June of this year. At the top end of the table was

Bournemouth, seeing 96% of patients in that time. Poole was high as

well, at 94%, and Salisbury wasn't But at the other end of the scale

were Southampton on 78%, Worthing and St Richard's on 77%, and the

To discuss this I am joined by Dr Brian Hammond, an osteopath and

chiropractor and chairman of the charity back care. Thank you for

joining us. A lot of people have back problems, you must see a lot

of people with back problems, but how many are serious conditions,

and do they really need surgery? About 50% of the population will

suffer with back pain this year, and about 3% of those will be very

serious. When people consult an orthopaedic surgeon at, about one

in 50 will go for surgery. That does not see many, it seems a small

percentage, and yet, since we mentioned this story earlier today,

we have had quite a few e-mails from people and nearly every one of

them is saying, I am waiting, almost to a year or more, for a

hospital treatment or appointment. It is clearly a very big problem.

One would think, with an ageing population, that there would be

some resource stretch and orthopaedic surgeons would be under

pressure to provide early surgery. His surgery the only answer, do you

think? Surgery is certainly not the only answer, it is successful in

about 90% of patients with leg pain but only about 50% of patients with

lower back pain, so the NICE reports recommend that many

punitive treatments, physiotherapy, chiropractic, should be the line of

first resort. You would say that, being a chiropractor and osteopath?

But that is not always available on the NHS, isn't that the issue as

well? That is correct, although osteopathy is available on the NHS

in some regions, as is chiropractic and physiotherapy, which the

government spent �150 million on last year for a back pain. Thank

you for joining us this evening. And thank you for all of the e-

mails you have been sending in on that particular story.

A Royal Marine from Reading has been repatriated to the UK in the

first such ceremony to be taken place at RAF Brize Norton in

Oxfordshire. Sergeant Barry Weston of 42 Commando was killed when a

roadside bomb in Afghanistan last week. He was the first repatriation

at a �3 million purpose-built centre since the ceremony was moved

from Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. The most famous cruise company

sailing from Southampton, Cunard, could be heading for Liverpool. It

says it is interested in operating from a terminal in Liverpool city

centre, if a row over the use of public funding to build it is

resolved. Long-term, this could be what Liverpool port looks like,

with new and improved cruise terminals and a massive housing and

business development. The row over public money being used for

Liverpool's current terminal is still not resolved. As a result,

the port of Southampton accuses Liverpool of unfair competition. A

Government consultation on the plan ends next week. Here is our

transport correspondent, Paul Clifton.

The Southampton-based cruise ship Queen Elizabeth arrived in

Liverpool this morning for her maiden visit. For more than a

century, this was Cunard's home port. The cruise terminal was paid

for with public money, a condition of the subsidy was that it could

not be used to compete against privately funded ports like

Southampton for lucrative turnaround calls, taking on new

passengers. Liverpool wants to overturn that, offering to repay a

quarter of the subsidy, �5 million, over 15 years. For Southampton

Forest Sheryl Dowd, that matters. If Liverpool takes away some of

Southampton's cruise ships, her business will suffer.

environment is lovely down here, and the area is buzzing. It would

be such a pity and a great loss. The campaign by other ports to stop

Liverpool's plans has gathered 6,000 signatures. What they are

doing is using taxpayers' money, my money, your money, I am a taxi

driver ear, to subsidise an operation in Liverpool for which

public money has had to be used here. But in Liverpool today,

Cunard made its intentions clear. Southampton remains our base but if

Liverpool invest in that facilities like other ports around the world,

then it is possible some voyages would start in Liverpool and I

think that would be popular for our guests. In Liverpool, grand plans

for the future. The terminal could be at the edge of a multi-billion-

pound private redevelopment with a second cruise terminal and landmark

buildings on a scale Southampton could not match. But the city

council sees little point repaying the subsidy. It is weird that

people think that, as the leader of Liverpool City Council, I should

knock on the European Union's door and say, take this money back. Most

ports around the country and most City have had European Union

sending in some way to enhance their city's or airports, and that

stage it is hypocritical of people to ask us to pay money back to

Europe when Europe don't want it. government consultation on

Liverpool's bid to become a turnaround port ends next week.

Paul is with me. This would be an interesting move by Cunard, there

are big forces at stake politically and financially?

Behind the political argument over whether public or private money

pays for a cruise terminal are big businesses, and most people I have

spoken to suspect Liverpool will win this. But whichever side wins

it will influence the look of the waterfront in Southampton and

Liverpool for years to come. It Southampton loses, it might

postpone plans for a 5th cruise terminal, but more importantly it

will affect the working lives of hundreds or thousands of people.

Why are the stakes so high? It is a business worth millions.

Cruising used to be the preserve of the well-off, but that has changed

and it is now a mass-market package holiday, the equivalent of two

weeks on the Spanish Kostas, and in the north is a mine untapped market.

Go from Manchester it is quite a trek to get a cruise. Linda Paul

Wood cell, that is why Cunard is interested in going back to the

home port it abandoned -- liver Paul would sell. That is why

Southampton is so worried about losing it.

Tributes have been paid in the House of Commons to the Red Arrows

pilot killed at the Bournemouth Air Festival last month. Flight

Lieutenant Jon Egging, who was 33, died as his Hawk jet crashed on the

banks of the River Stour. An inquiry has been ordered into his

death. The Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, Tobias Ellwood,

said he was a brave man. Rather than eject from his stricken

aircraft, he was able to manoeuvre it away from a built-up area, an

action which probably cost him his life. He will be missed by his

family, friends, the RAF community and, indeed, his nation.

A tribute to left -- to Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging in the House

of Commons. A widow from Surrey says her home

is being put at risk by a water company. Virginia McDonagh lives

next door to a South East Water treatment works. Her garden

regularly floods and now the water is getting closer to her house.

Virginia's late husband repeatedly complained to the company, and she

says it is hard to fight on without him. Danielle Glavin reports.

Wellies are essential wear when Virginia McDonagh hangs out her

washing. There are boggy patches across the lawn. The problem is the

water treatment works next door. Water trickles from under their

fence onto her property. The surface damage looks superficial,

but the real worry is about what lies beneath. We had a survey out

and he says if it goes on like this it will be going under the house.

No way at the moment would we be able to sell the house because

nobody could get a mortgage, nobody would agree to have a mortgage on

the house because of the water, the amount of water front and back.

garage also regularly floods. Virginia's late husband used to

complain, their correspondence dates back 11 years. She says it is

hard to fight on without him. South East Water told us: "South East

Water is sorry for the distress the flooding at Millbrook House causes

to the family. We are working to resolve the issues and are sorry

for the time this has taken. Our engineering department is working

to find a solution to the drainage issues and we will work with the

family to ensure we get this issue, including their insurance and

mortgage problems resolved once and for all".

A writer's letters or e-mails, appear to be really serious, saying,

oh, don't worry, we will get something done. But it just doesn't

happen. South East Water say they will visit Virginia at the earliest

opportunity. She hopes they bring a solution with them.

The Home Secretary has denied that a decision has been made to sell

off the Bramshill police training college in Hampshire. The Times

newspaper reported that the sell- off of the college and its 300 acre

estate near Hook would raise tens of millions of pounds. But Theresa

May told a committee of MPs that talks are ongoing as part of the

discussions on the future of the National Policing Improvement

Agency. No final decisions have been taken

in relation to the estate. The National Policing Improvement

Agency work is being done as part of the process at -- the process of

looking at leadership and looking at the estate, and when decisions

are taken, they will be announced in the proper way.

People living and working in Bournemouth will have to dial the

01202 area code when making local calls from next year. The changes

are being brought in by telecoms regulator Ofcom to boost the supply

of spare numbers in other areas where they are needed. Bournemouth

will pilot the system before it is rolled out to several other towns

and cities, including Brighton and Hove, by 2016.

Still to come in this evening's South Today:

Still on course - the public cheer on comedian David Walliams as he

tries to swim the Thames for Archaeologists have long known that

the historic parts of Southampton can yield some pretty exciting

finds. It is one of the earliest English settlements, and at one

stage was probably the biggest, most important town in the whole

country. That is why, whenever a building is demolished in the city,

they like to get in quick to see what treasures might lie beneath.

Chrissy Sturt has been to find out why they are so excited about their

latest dig. This is where the story of the City

of Southampton begins, this construction site is in the middle

of the ancient Anglo-Saxon town of Hamlet. Because the band,

archaeologists knew that the site had secrets to reveal. But what

they found took their breath away. When they started digging, they

quickly found human bones. They uncovered an unusual double burial,

the couple's legs intertwined. The layout of the bones indicate it is

the earliest Christian ceremony -- cemetery ever found here. We had

absolutely no idea there was a Saxon ceremony -- cemetery. We

thought, we have one great here, maybe we have more, and in the end

we found eight of them. The eighth century town of Hamwic rivalled

London in power and importance, thousands of Saxons lived here, and

the artefacts yielded up by the site paint a vivid picture of their

lives. We find their rubbish in the rubbish pits, the waste of the food

they ate. Is it a period you would want to have lived in? If I had a

time machine and would like to go back to find out more about the

time, but I'm not sure I would like to live them. It would have been

smelly, I'm sure! Pretty dirty, they used to eat toff beet and

mutton, probably not a good period for vegetarians. -- toff beef.

Matt's lab, we take a closer look at the site's finds. This is a

snooze Blackstone with a hole in it, it was probably suspended summer,

but we spotted a trace of gold, telling us a Goldsmith was working

in that part of Southampton. This was found in a Saxon rubbish pit, a

fossil of something that came out of the back end of a dog. Back at

the site, work is well underway to build 13 affordable homes, meaning

this site will have been continually lived on for 1300 years.

And if you want to see any of those artefacts, they will be going on

display at Southampton's new Sea City Museum, hopefully next year.

David Walliams has made it to Berkshire in his Sport Relief

attempt to swim 140 miles along the River Thames. The actor and

comedian has been suffering from a stomach bug for the last 24 hours

and has fallen a little behind schedule. Ben Moore was there with

the crowds in Goring to see him enter the royal county.

He crossed the border in his own way at about 11am. Hundreds lined

the riverbank to cheer David Walliams through the lock. A man he,

at the moment, is battling not permit the Thames but the stomach

bugs the river gave him. -- battling not only the Thames. How

are you feeling? Tired. What energy it had, it seemed he was saving it

for the crowd. David has raised over �350,000 for Sport Relief so

far. He is four hours behind schedule because of his illness but

says his supporters are keeping him going. We live locally so it came

down and have been here for an hour and-a-half waiting for him, well

worth the wait. It doesn't happen every day, and he needs the support,

so good to be here. Very impressive, it brings home what a feat it is

and how cold it must be. Fantastic, a dream come true. We rushed along

the river with him, walking at the speed he was swimming. It is

fantastic. A last wave... I Love You, thank you! And he was off

again. Another 35 miles to swim in Berkshire. He will stay just

outside Reading tonight. Hopefully he will forgive me for

pronouncing his name wrong! He has more things to worry about!

And David should be finishing today at Caversham Bridge any moment. He

will be setting off again from the same place at about 7am tomorrow

and making his way through Reading. Get along and support him if you

can. It is all for a very good cause. Good luck to David. On to

spot. We will start with football. We had

an international break last weekend. Southampton defender Dan Seaborne

is expected to remain in hospital for a few more days after being

beaten up outside a city centre nightclub last week. The 24-year-

old has been ruled out of the team's Championship matches for an

indefinite period following the attack, which left him with serious

head injuries. Two men were arrested following the attack. One

was released without charge, while the other was bailed while

inquiries continue. He is not the first Saints player to be involved

in a late-night city-centre incident in recent times.

The important thing is the players have a good reputation around the

city, they behave themselves. I was speaking to the chief constable at

the hospital on Friday and he reiterated that, that the lads have

a great reputation and it was an unfortunate thing for Dan. The lads

had a weekend of macros so it was a bit of downtime for the players, it

is not as if he was doing anything wrong, but it underlines how good,

disciplined and professional we have a group of players in this

football club. Here is the scorecard at the end of

day two between Lancashire and Hampshire. And she's still 159

behind, they need to go well Sussex gain the initiative on day

two against Worcestershire, and International Paralympic Day has

been celebrated today, with tickets for next summer's London Games due

to go on sale tomorrow. Among those hoping to win gold on home soil is

Dorset cyclist Darren Kenny. Already a multiple gold medallist

from Athens and Beijing, Kenny is competing in the World Paralympic

Road Race Championships in Denmark. But, as Kris Temple explains, it

has not been a good day for him. This is what Darren Kenny has

become used to. The top of the podium has almost been a second

home for the 41-year-old Dorset dad. But today in Roskilde, something of

a surprise. Darren suffered technical problems with his gears

and could only finish ninth in the time trial. It is always dependent

on the course and conditions, you can only do what you can do, so it

wasn't quite to my liking. It is a far cry from the success he has

enjoyed in recent years. Two golds and a silver in Athens in 2004 were

followed by imperious performances in Beijing four years later. Darren

came home with four golds and a silver, making him Britain's most

successful Paralympic cyclist ever. Pressure is what you put on

yourself, it doesn't really matter if there is a million people there

or no one there, you want that gold, that is it. There is no good time

for your bike to break. But better to have a mishap now than in London

next year. Golf is not yet a Paralympic sport.

If it was, this man might be a medallist. Last year, we featured

Stan Bembenik from Berkshire. He has only got one leg after

suffering from bone cancer more than 20 years ago. But he is one of

the golfers from the region who have been named today in the first

English Disabled Golf Team to play Scotland next month. Although there

are many disabled tournaments and internationals for things like

blind golf, it is the first such event for players with mobility

disabilities. Well done to him, and good luck.

Shall we keep the Gulfstream going? -- the Gulf Stream.

A Dorset man has celebrated his 100th birthday with a round of golf.

Bill Light completed nine holes at Sturminster Marshall Golf club

before celebrating his centenary with friends and family. Happy

birthday, Bill. I hope you enjoyed it. What did he get in the Gulf?

Under par? He would be battling with the weather if he plays in the

next few days. Wet and windy over the weekend, but a respite tomorrow.

It has been a mixed day, some rain Keith Haywood captured the rocky

shore line against the grey skies on Seaview beach on the Isle of

Wight. Sandy Burnfield took this photo by

the River Test at Longstock near Stockbridge in Hampshire.

And the sun was shining for this heron fishing for its lunch in Vale

of Aylesbury, captured by Dan Marshall.

Some late-evening sunshine on offer but let's look at the weekend, very

wet and windy. Rain at times, more so on Sunday, and that continues

into next week. Tonight is a cloudy night, mist and fog could be a

possibility for held up areas and the south coast, dense fog on the

south coast on the English Channel. Outbreaks of light, a patchy rain,

the odd heavy burst in places. Some clear spells but a lot of cloud

overhead. Humid temperatures. An uncomfortable night for sleeping.

Tomorrow there will be sunshine on offer, the outside chance of a

shower. The mist and fog on the south coast could linger for much

of the day, a problem if you want to head out to sea. If you are

heading to the Isle of Wight, it should be a predominantly dry day.

The outside chance of a shower, the mist and fog could be a problem

heading over to the island. The showers will tend to die away

overnight, the winds will start to pick up, dispersing any mist and

fog problems. Yet another humid night to come. Saturday daytime, we

have a cold front moving towards the North Sea, it will clear during

the afternoon, so an improving picture, and on Sunday, a messy day,

strong winds and heavy rainfall at times. That rain will continue into

Monday courtesy of this area of low pressure in the Atlantic, another

weather macrosystem drifting through, the winds will be brisk. -

- weather system. Enjoy tomorrow one you can, because it turns right

on Saturday, very wet and windy on Sunday and the winds continue to be

strong into the start of next week. Enjoyed the sunshine tomorrow, and,

Sally and Roger, Batten down the Bill White, apparently, was 100

this week at some point. Still, happy birthday.