21/02/2017 South Today

Hello and welcome to BBC South Today, I'm Laura Trant.

The top stories this evening: Struggling to cope.

Hundreds of operations are cancelled at two of our hospitals.

Rail commuters bracing themselves for more disruption tomorrow

Training for the first all-female unsupported trek across Antarctica.

Two Hampshire hospitals have announced they're cancelling 100

operations to help relieve the workload on their

Hip, knee and other orthopaedic surgery in Basingstoke

Unprecedented pressure has been blamed.

In a moment, we'll hear the latest from our health correspondent,

David Fenton, but first what can be done to improve the situation?

Steve Humphrey reports on how NHS shake-up plans have

It's a campaign that's quickly gained momentum.

People here in Shaftesbury in North Dorset are fighting

to save 15 beds at the town's Westminster Memorial Hospital.

It's an issue that's got the whole town talking.

This little hospital must keep going at any cost.

We do need a little hospital round here.

Along with many other parts of the NHS, Dorset's Clinical

Commissioning Group is proposing changes to everything

from the county's big three acute hospitals

The proposal is to keep beds at the community hospitals

but to close all 15 beds here at the hospital in Shaftesbury.

But a range of medical services would still be provided in the town.

I think they really should think again and really take on board

The Clinical Commissioning Group argues changes have got to be made

because of a rising population, increasing demand and growing

Change is always very difficult, especially in the local

community, and I absolutely understand people's fears.

I can only reassure them that we are trying to do the best

for the widest population in North Dorset.

It's not about cutting beds but providing that care

in a different manner and keeping people at home.

In their campaign HQ in the high street, these people

So far, around 1,500 people have filled in the consultation document.

Final decisions will be made later this year.

Steve Humphrey, BBC South Today, Shaftesbury.

Our health correspondent, David Fenton, has been assessing how

much pressure local hospitals are under and sent us this report

from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

Today, yesterday, all of last week, operations were being cancelled

There's a two-week stoppage on almost all orthopaedic surgery

to allow more emergency patients to be treated.

The hospital trust says it's faced unprecedented pressures over

the last two weeks and has had to make hard choices

so they are using surgical beds for these emergency patients,

Many hospitals do it and, as a result, they have

Three procedures cancelled in Poole over the last few weeks,

ten in Southampton, 11 in Bournemouth.

There are never enough beds to go around, it seems.

But the NHS is planning to cut more hospital beds over the next few

years and treat more people and care for them closer to home.

That's the big idea but it is causing some concern

for many local groups, as we heard Steve

Southern Rail passengers in West Sussex, Surrey and parts

of Hampshire are bracing themselves for more disruption as members

of the RMT union will go on strike tomorrow.

It'll be the 29th day of strike action in the union's long-running

dispute over changes to the role of guards.

Tom Hepworth's live at Southampton Central

A few weeks, ago it looked like there was a light

Yes, here we go again, but the impact of tomorrow's strike

isn't likely to be as far-reaching as when drivers in the Aslef

When that happened, the railway ground to a halt.

Southern's parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway,

says it expects to run three quarters of its trains,

which means there will be some services from here in Southampton

and Portsmouth to Brighton, but there's likely to be disruption,

cancellations and shorter trains on many routes.

The dispute is about making drivers responsible for safety

rather than guards - getting them to operate the train

doors and changing the role of guards into onboard supervisors.

Drivers in Aslef rejected the agreement between

Aslef and GTR have been in more talks today.

GTR's already imposed the changes on guards.

Last week, it sent staff a letter, warning them that taking strike

action may be a breach of contract and the company could apply

It urges employees to think very carefully about

The RMT says this amounts to bullying and intimidation.

Meanwhile, a separate strike by Aslef and the RMT will affect parts

There'll be no service on the Waterloo and City line

and a limited service on the Central line.

Surfers in Bournemouth say they fear a nasty accident after jet skis

were filmed passing within a few feet of people in the sea.

This incident was filmed at the weekend.

Bylaws limiting the use of jet skis near the beach only apply

Coastguards say behaviour like this puts swimmers and other

A team of British soldiers is hoping to become the first all-female group

During a three-month expedition, they'll face temperatures of -40

degrees and they'll be walking in that for up to nine hours a day.

A trainee GP based in Portsmouth and a troop commander based

at Larkhill in Salisbury are part of the seven-member team.

Phil Mackie joined them during training in Norway.

In September, these soldiers will begin the historic journey,

hoping they'll succeed and inspire a generation of women.

It's not just about five women crossing Antarctica.

It's about encouraging women from across the military,

but also in civilian life, just to get out there and give

things a go and realise that there is no ceiling,

I think, if we can inspire some women to get out

there and be physically active, it doesn't have to be Antarctica,

Home for the next few weeks and for the 80 days

of the expedition will be a small tent.

It will be the bedroom, living room and kitchen.

There are doctors, a former teacher and an electrical

They will leave their families and partners behind to spend nearly

There's important research being done, too.

No one really knows what it'll take to sustain an all-female team

It's not just about calories, it's about the actual

composition of the rations, so making sure there

is the right amount of carbohydrate, fat and protein.

So it's trying to figure out how we can manipulate that, I suppose.

And also for a group of women whose nutritional requirements

And there's been very, very little research done,

and certainly not published, so I haven't really got

And one of the hardest things will be maintaining morale as each

They've just been out for a two-hour march.

They are going to have to do up to nine hours a day once

they are in the Antarctic, carrying everything

It's going to be very, very tough, which is why they need to practise

Two will be reserves as only five can cross the Antarctic

where they hope to break the ice ceiling, putting them

in the history books alongside explorers like Scott,

Football now, and Reading missed the chance to leapfrog

their opponents into third place in the Championship

tonight after losing 1-0 away at Huddersfield.

The result leaves the Royals four points behind their

BBC Radio Berkshire's Tim Dellor watched all the action.

Huddersfield are heard tonight though Reading stay fourth. Brady

will feel aggrieved not to have been awarded the penalty themselves. A

chaotic goal with ten minutes remaining settled the contest and it

does not get any easier, Reading play Brighton.

A lot of cloud overnight tonight with outbreaks of rain but with the

increasing breeze, that should keep mist and fog at bay. The rain will

come ago so it will not be completely showers overnight. A mild

night, temperatures barely differing from the town badges. Tomorrow, a

good deal of cloud. A strengthening west to south-westerly wind

especially along the coast of the Isle of Wight. Elsewhere, outbreaks

of rain, dry interludes, heavy bursts of rain at times and

temperatures will reach a high of 11-12 C. The winds will continue to

strengthen tomorrow night in the first day and the Met Office had

issued the wind warning to all parts of oxygen in Buckinghamshire. Rain

on Thursday will play eastwards snowstorm Doris will affect air is

not of the Midlands. A wind warning in force through Oxfordshire. Wind

gusts there are 50-60 mph. Elsewhere, wind gusts of 50-55 mph.

Outbreaks of rain over the next few days, light and patchy tomorrow,

heavy burst of rain on Thursday the day, particularly up towards the

evening rush hour. It calms down on the Outlook toward the end of the

week and then milder again from the wheel them. More on storm Doris now

with Matt Taylor.