12/11/2013 Spotlight

The frantic efforts to get aid to the Philippines. The Cornish charity

working flat out. Good evening. Shelterbox is in a race against time

to help thousands of people left homeless by the typhoon as Filipinos

living here wait for news of loved ones.

All we can really do is pray for God to help them. I can't be there and

it is unbearable. Also tonight: The high cost of care

as families lose homes and savings to pay bills. Thousands may now have

to wait several years to get their money back from the NHS.

And the rugby ball that's travelled from the Menin Gate to Plymouth for

this evening's Remembrance game. Hundreds of boxes of humanitarian

aid are being dispatched by the Cornish charity Shelterbox to the

Philippines. The organisation says it has enough aid to help 4,000

families who've been left homeless by the typhoon there. Response teams

will be carrying out assessments in the worst affected areas over the

next two days. Meanwhile people from the Filipino community in the South

West are desperately waiting for news of family and friends who've

been affected by the tragedy. It is feared at least 10,000 people

have been killed in the Philippines, with nearly 700,000

displaced and 11 million affected in total. Some of this woman's Emily

live in the worst affected areas, and their homes are gone and

neighbours missing. `` this woman's family. All we can do really is

pray. We pray that God does help them, to go to them. I cannot be

there. It is unbearable. Volunteers at the headquarters of Shelterbox

are working flat out to pack the boxes, which contain everything that

people in the Philippines needs to survive. The charity says 500 boxes

are on their way, with 600 more available in Australia and

Malaysia. The teams on the ground will manage the aid and the good

ground transport and look at the last few miles, which can often be

the most challenging getting aid to the affected areas. Communications

are down. We are hearing that petrol is now being rationed. There will be

some huge challenges in his last few miles to get the aid to those most

in need. Aid agencies are warning that the security situation in the

affected areas is warning `` worsening, with people ransacking

supermarkets. The United Nations has launched an appeal to get help to

the islands. The relief workers and here, as the first British

government aid plane is expected to land this evening.

Thousands of South West families, who've seen homes and savings

swallowed up in care bills which they say the NHS should have paid,

will probably wait years to get their money back. More than 3,000

people in the region are waiting to have their applications for funding

considered. Health service managers say it'll take two years, but many

experts believe the backlog will take far longer to clear. Our Health

Correspondent Sally Mountjoy has this report.

Matilda Hibbert ran her shop for many years. Now 90 years old, she

has been in a nursing home since 2009, when social services said that

her dementia was so advanced, she needed round`the`clock care. Her

family says that her principal needs are health`related, said the NHS

should be paying her care bill under so`called continuing health care

funding. Health assessors disagree. To meet costs, Matilda's family have

had to sell their home that she thought she had handed down to

future generations. She has worked hard all of her life for this money

and she has never wanted for doctors all through her life, and she has

put into the system and it has let her down. Continuing health care

funding covers the full cost of long`term care if a person's need is

deemed to be a helpmeet and not presidential. But last year, the

deadlines changed. As a result, the NHS has received many thousands of

applications. Across the South West, more than 3000 people have made

retrospective claims for funding, believing care costs they have paid

should have been met by the health service. Commissioning groups for

the NHS have teams to process the applications, but most say it will

take two years. Many families who submitted claims over a year ago say

they have heard nothing about when their cases will be considered.

Health managers say it is a time`consuming and complicated

process. Prioritizing those families and the patience to make sure they

get the right care for the future, and we will make sure that we

contact all families and patients to let them know when they should be

assessed so that people feel they are part of the process. Matilda's

health `` case is being considered, but it is taking a long time to

resolve. Teens are not being processed quick enough, but we think

it is `` things are not being processed quick enough, but we think

it is important to carry this on, because we are their part `` to

protect her. Many others feel they are unfairly out of pocket, and

waiting too long for justice. I've been speaking to Lisa Morgan, a

solicitor acting for the Hibbert family who we've just seen in that

report and others across the South West. I asked her what effect these

delays are having. This backlog currently is huge, and

unfortunately, families who lodged a claim last summer still have not had

their cases considered, and it is not likely that these cases will be

considered in the next two years. What do those people do in the

meantime in terms of funding their care? The cases are split into two.

Those individuals who have sadly passed away and also you have got a

large majority of clients whose parents are still alive and they are

still having to consider `` continue paying their fees, which could be

around ?3000 per month. Let me get this clear. Even if someone has

passed away, the families of years of battling to get back the money

that they should have been paid. That is right. Unfortunately, there

was a deadline last summer, and the scheme in England was already under

resourced. Because of huge influx of cases that were brought to the

former PCT 's in September, the problem has simply been

exacerbated, so, on average, we knew that cases would normally take two

or three years to complete. Now, unfortunately, we do anticipate that

it is going to be more than three or four years to complete. That seems

extraordinary. The Hibbert family, there cases slightly different, and

that's the assessment has not even suggested that they should be

getting funding for their health care, so that is another aspect.

Yes, and unfortunately, that is not uncommon. Thousands of families have

been wrongly assessed for this funding, and also you have got

families who have not been assessed for this funding, and we have

overturned a number of decisions which have been undertaken in the

area where families should not have been paying for the care home fees

in the first place. What is your suggestion to families who are in

this position at the moment? What are you advising your current

clients? I would advise them to speak to their local MP. This is an

under resourced scheme. It is not seen as a priority within the NHS

will stop whilst we are receiving letters saying that cases will take

two years to complete, in my experience come a it is going to be

double that timescale, so speak to your MP, as they will hopefully be

able to put this on a political agenda. Thank you for joining us.

The public can have their say tonight on controversial proposals

to cut services for older people, libraries and youth clubs in Devon.

The County Council has to find about ?100 million in savings on top of

previous rounds of cuts and has warned there are no sacred cows. A

public meeting is being held tonight in Exeter. Our correspondent Simon

Hall is there. The meeting is due to get underway

in the next few moments. People are just arriving at the moment. The

Council has warned that this round of cuts will really bite into

front`line services because of previous cuts they have had to make,

and they say they can afford no further efficiencies. That is

concerning people out there in the community, as I have been finding

out today. This jigsaw was the last project John Alexander completed

before he died from cancer last year. He received care from Devon

County Council. It helped his widow to cope, so she is concerned about

the proposal to cut services for older people, particularly day care

centres. It was home from home all stop I went in and did jigsaw 's and

they all knew each other. They went home happy and stimulated. They

could talk to somebody else. You do nothing and you just sleep away, and

I think that aside. Services for older `` and I think that is sad.

Services for older people are looking particularly vulnerable in

this round of cuts. The County Council seeks to save about ?100

million. It is bound to be a worry, isn't it? People get very attached

to the places they go and they get to know all the people there. It can

become almost a second home to people, so it is bound to be a

worry. What we hope is that Devon will deal with this in a very

sensitive manner. How do you feel as an older member of society that you

are being treated this way by society at the moment? If you have

nobody to speak for you, you cannot speak for yourself. You are just at

their mercy. Libraries and youth services are other areas to face

cuts under the review of spending by Devon County Council.

That is the leader of the Council opening this evening's meeting. Just

before the meeting, I caught up with him for a few words, and put to him

that older people will be disproportionately affected by cuts.

We are cutting everywhere and we will be cutting everywhere. I would

not say that we are disproportionate on anything. What I will say is that

the older care budget is one of the largest that we still have in the

capital Council `` County Counsel. Is there no way that you could find

other ways to make the cuts? We are doing most of them already. The

government says we must be able to find more. 3000 members of staff

have been cut, we have reduced our budget, we have reduced the way we

do things. For the amount of money we have to take out, we have to cut

services. We have already heard one woman tonight, telling us that she

intends to be a troublemaker at the meeting. We will see what that

actually brings and we will bring you a report on what happened here

tonight at 10:25pm. Coming up in a moment, a bird's eye

view. A rare opportunity to examine the life of a gannet thanks to

modern technology. And another Children in Need project that's

flourishing, thanks to your generosity.

A new GPS tracker device for people with dementia could save lives and

thousands of pounds, according to campaigners and Devon and Cornwall

Police. The force says it's not uncommon for as many as three people

with the condition to go missing a night, with the cost for some

searches running into five figures. Chloe Axford has been to see one

couple in Torquay who have been trying the tracker out.

If can't imagine waking up for a dream and being somewhere `` if you

can imagine waking up from a dream and not knowing where you are. It is

an awful feeling. This man suffers from dementia. He has gone missing

several times on the situations he and his wife they were terrifying.

Wondering whether he is going to get knocked over. He once ended up by

BC. He could have gone into the CFE was not found at that time. It

literally can be a matter of life and death. Recently, the couple have

been trying out a special GPS tracker device which can be used to

find him. Norman carries his in his pocket. If the lane is worried about

where he is, all she has to do is use her tracker to call the control

centre, who locate him within moments. Good morning to stop can

you tell me where my husband is, please? Yes, thank you. That is all

I wanted to know. Norman can check his location as well. He has told me

exactly where I am. This is a wonderful device will stop this is

going to save lives. It is so much quicker than what is happening now.

Searching for vulnerable missing people cost the police and rescue

organisations thousands of pounds and hundreds of man`hours. In July,

team spent days working as a looking for an 83`year`old. Sadly, she was

not found in time. Her doctor said it would have been reassuring to

know her mother had been carrying a tracking device. One of the search

managers so the police welcomes anything which can help find people

more thickly. Speed is the `` more quickly. Speed is the key. Anyone

who has not been eating or drinking is likely to suffer the `` symptoms

of starvation and hyperthermia, especially as the nights become

colder. Obviously, the risk factors around missing people are increasing

significantly. The tracking devices are currently available free of

charge to anyone with dementia. There is a monthly line rental fee

to pay, but in action alliance is hoping to raise enough money to

provide them free to anyone here in the basement needs one. `` in the

bay to needs one. A research project has given us a

rare glimpse into the life of the gannet. The birds follow fishing

vessels to pick up discarded fish and that's made researchers at the

University of Exeter wonder if they'll miss out on a free lunch

once stricter conservation measures fully take effect. Our Environment

Correspondent Adrian Campbell reports.

This is the world as a gannet sees it. There have been cameras set up

which allow researchers to learn a lot about where the birds go and

what they do. Birds like gannets make use of things that happened

dumped over fishing boats, and one of the interesting things we have

found with this is that not all are equal. Some birds seem to be very

determined to scavenge behind fishing boats and some will continue

and pass them. Those birds are eating and natural things. Research

`` researchers have focused in on some birds off the Pembrokeshire

coast. The cameras have shown they will travel a long wait for food.

The birds with the camera are marked with a harmless green dye to help

identify them when they return to their nest. We have been tracking

these round to the South West coast of Ireland. One of the ways we know

exactly where they are is that it has a GPS built into it so that we

can plot precise trucks, but moreover, within this device is a

digital video camera, so it is capturing. This is the lens, and it

captures 15 second bursts of video every three minutes. The research is

being carried out in partnership with the RSPB, who hopes that this

visual record of behaviour will help in long`term conservation.

Incredible, isn't it? In the last year alone, 450,000

disadvantaged children and young people in the UK have been helped by

Children in Need. One of the South West schemes to benefit is the

Pembroke Street project in the Devonport area of Plymouth. It's

been working for more than 20 years to turn around one of the most

deprived council wards in the country. It also runs an after

school club for the children on the estate.

I left a club and came to this club. The children learn acceptance

and they learn to love. Some of the children hardly said anything at all

when they first came in. Some would not come through the door. Now they

cannot wait to come here. If children live with encouragement,

they learn to be confident. It is to build their confidence and

self`esteem, and to get them socializing and having fun, really.

It is much more fun than just sitting on the sofa and doing

nothing. If children learn with recognition, they learn to have a

goal. We are happy because we have got something to do. This club is

amazing because we do fun stuff. If children live with friendliness,

they learn the world is a nice place in which to live. If I get stuck,

they will help me. They are nice, helpful and kind and friendly, and I

like it here. It is better than doing nothing, which is what I was

doing at my house. It is brilliant being here. I meet other children.

Without the Children in Need funding, we would not be here and

the children would not have this provision at all. There is no else

that they can come and do this in this area in particular. If children

live with security, the learn things about them. They have got friends

here and they see that people like them and want to be friends with

them. They can talk to them, interact with them, so that does

make a difference. I am sure of that. If children live with sharing,

they learn to be generous. Children in Need is good, helpful and kind,

and helpful. I am really happy coming to this club stop `` to this

club. It is a good life for me. Thank you, Children in Need. And if

you're fundraising this year we'd love you to come along to the Party

for Pudsey at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth on

Friday night. Just e`mail [email protected] and we'll

send you tickets. Plymouth Albion's Brickfields plays

host to the annual Remembrance match between the Combined Services and

the Barbarians this evening. To mark this special occasion, the match

ball has been brought all the way from Flanders. Earlier today, Andy

Birkett went along to meet the Baa`Baas as they were given a

military day to remember. It began at the Menin Gate, with the

commander starting the first leg of a cycle relate to Plymouth. The

first leg was nearly 60 miles, then we stayed overnight in Dover, and

then from Friday, they moved to Eastbourne and then to Portsmouth,

then to Dorchester, then to Axminster busstop then they arrived

in Dartmouth and then they arrive here today in a few moments, we

hope. This Marshall has been flown in from overseas to take part in the

match. I had a phone call from the commander asking if I could bring in

my squadron, and I flew in last week, and about four hours later, I

will be flying straight back, so it is a bit short notice and there is a

lot of flying involved, but I do not mind it at all. He joins forces with

a Royal Marine who also plays for Plymouth Albion. The service they

provide, we could ultimately end up providing on it and it is good to

know those guys are here to help us and our families out. As a player in

a squad, there have been some who have gone to Afghanistan and have

not come back. When you think of the Barbarians, the strike immediately

springs to mind. `` this try. Brilliant! This is Gareth Edwards, a

commanding start. What a score! Some of the first Amos names in rugby

played that game `` some of the famous names in rugby played that

game will stop I just hope nobody else gets seasick like me. The

connection seems three of his team`mates lining up against him.

Boys will be boys. Both teams are aware that they are playing part in

something much bigger than just a rugby match. They are great guys. It

is great fun. It is fun and you can appreciate the work that is being

done to protect us and the country, so it is brilliant. Of course, there

would be no gain without a ball, and right on cue, the cyclists arrive at

the end of their journey. Glad to see it arrive safely. They

had great fun out on the water, didn't they? Is it getting colder

this evening? First proper frost tonight. Good evening. Frost is

certainly possible overnight tonight. If you have not yet used

her wind screen scraper, it might be a good idea to try and find grade is

this evening. `` find where it is this evening. I have a bit misty

here and there, but there will be some morning sunshine. We will also

see some showers developing into the evening. This was the veil of clouds

that we saw earlier today. It has moved out of the way. There is great

sky developing ever most of southern Britain because of this area of high

pressure. These weather fronts are trying to come in from the North

West, but they are held at bay for a while before they eventually arrived

overnight tomorrow night and into Thursday. They will generate showers

as they sweep through. There will also be a brisk wheeze `` breeze

developing. Some showers, and also a cold wind developing. Here is the

structure of the cloud. You can see how it is just been spending all day

on and we have a fair amount of clouds to end the day on. A lovely

and of the day in Plymouth. A lovely sunset as well. This clear sky means

that we could see frost overnight tonight, and also, those who enjoy

the view of the moon and stars, a very good night for that as well.

The men will not release that until about half past two in the morning.

With that clear sky, as I mentioned, it is also turning quite cold. We

could see overnight tortures down to freezing for many parts of the South

West of England. Perhaps not so low around the coastline. Later in the

night we could see some mist and fog forming. Some quite thick fog

patches first thing tomorrow morning. Temperatures, there they

are. Five or six degrees on the coast come about Finland, down to

zero. A frost for the first time. Early tomorrow morning, it will

disappear, and for much of the day, it is fine and dry, but increasingly

cloudy. Towards the end of the afternoon, a few showers will trip

in towards the North Devon coast. The winds are fairly light tomorrow

but they will freshen later in the day. For the Isles of Scilly, fine,

but the breeze increases, and we will see some showers developing

later in the day. Times of high water. For our surfers, the surf is

not too bad tomorrow. The waves are not very big, but they will be

clean. They will become choppy towards the end of the day. The

breeze will increase. It will start off light. This is the coastal

waters forecast. Affair with showers later. It stays cold as we move

towards the weekend. You will need to wrap up warmly. 18 northwesterly

breeze. Cold, but staying dry on Friday. Thank you. Our late news at

10:25pm, with a live update on the meeting discussing council cuts in

Devon. We will be back with you at 6:30am tomorrow. Good night.