24/06/2014 Spotlight

from the News at Cix. Good"ye fro- me. On B@C

Patients left waiting hours for hospital transport.

Two private firms are heavily criticised.

Good evening and welcome to Spotlight.

Devon and Dorset have suffered the worst services.

The firms say they've tried to make improvements.

But patients say the failings just go on and on.

It let us down, play Lee once. Then it was late on a couple of other

occasions. It was the stress and attention, I was standing ottside on

the doorstep waiting for it to come and it never came.

Plans to prevent parts of Dawlish Warren falling into the sea,

but the Environment Agency's scheme comes with a ?10 million prhce tag.

MPs join the call for the rdgion's holiday trade to pay less [email protected]

And how a mother turned to play writing, to help cope with

There are serious concerns tonight about the the way patients'

transport services are being run across much of the South West.

Some patients have been left waiting for hours for ambulances to be taken

The service in Dorset has been described

as shameful and disrespectftl while the service in Devon has been

The firms say they have worked hard to make improvements.

Spotlight's Health Correspondent Sally Mountjoy has this exclusive

Until last October the NHS Trust that operates these ambulances in

the south`west provided nondmergency patient transport across thd

region. As part of the drivd to increase competition contracts were

put out to tender and awarddd to three private firms. There have been

problems but earlier this ydar the company that run the servicds in

Dorset and Devon were criticised. Victor is a kidney patient that

needs frequent dialysis. He speaks for many fellow patients in Dorset

who have had long waits to be collected from home and hospital

after treatment. They have been waiting an hour to be picked up

That is a long time when yot have been on dialysis for hours `nd you

are feeling ill, which you tsually are and that has been difficult for

them to handle. Today Counchl watchdogs have seen seven sdparate

reports addressing the failhngs of the service. They have heard a

litany of complaints, many lade in recent weeks from patients `nd

hospitals. It includes transport arriving late or not at all, missed

appointments, hospitals unable to discharge patients, long delays for

phone booking. Patients describe it as intolerable and this shalbles.

Dreadful. It is shameful. The policy is that dialysis patients, their

transport is part of their package of care, it is part of their

treatment package and it has to be delivered in a timely and

efficient, safe manner. The company says they are working closely with

health service partners to hmprove the service after unexpectedly high

demand caused problems at the start of the contract. They say it has now

recognised that significant progress has been made. Councillors have

demanded to know more about how the NHS in Dorset has handled the

problem. In Somerset, Cornw`ll and much of the Devon hospitals say they

are concerned about delays but a number of patients have told us

today about recent delays. Bob praises the drivers but says he was

left waiting on several occ`sions for an ambulance to take hil to

hospital appointments in Exdter They were very late coming `nd I was

very late attending appointlents, to the extent where sometimes H missed

an appointment altogether. There were no medical staff left `t the

hospital at that time. It w`s the stress and attention. I was standing

outside on the doorstep waiting for it to come and it never camd. The

company says this experiencd is not normal. We have to be very clear

here that the service is good, it is fit for purpose. Most patients, the

vast majority of patients are getting a very good service. Can we

improve? Absolutely, we can improve and we are working closely with

commissioners to do that. Hdalth watchdogs will continue to lonitor

the performance of Ambulancd Services across the region to ensure

that patients get the transport to health care appointments th`t they

need. Earlier I put the concerns

in that report about Dorset to Jane Pike of the Dorset Clinical

Commissioning Group. I began by asking her

whether she agreed that the service It has not been a service that we

envisaged all wanted for our patients and you are right to say

that originally there were significant challenges. We have now

worked when the company and there is a significant improvement so far and

we expect it to continue. That has come at a cost. You had to give them

another ?2 million on top of a 4 million you gave them the start of

the contract, that is a lot of money to put right these mistakes.

Absolutely, but it is in line with the activity they are now doing and

we feel it is important for asked to get the service for our pathents so

that is why we have put the extra resources. The scrutiny comlittee

heard today that this company had four times as many calls as it had

anticipated getting when it took over the contract, doesn't that come

down to you not giving them the right information right at the very

beginning? There are a numbdr of factors to that. Firstly thdre was a

lack of robust information `cross the piece, so we had to gather

information from a number of sources and some of those were very robust

and some of those were less robust so we had to base it on our best

information that we had and we did a fantastic job in publicising the new

service which created to deland in the first few weeks on the telephone

calls. Having private companies takeover NHS services is ultimately

about cost`cutting but this has cost you more money and caused more

inconvenience to the people you are supposed to be helping. This was

never about cost`cutting, it was about ensuring we had a single

robust service for the whold of Dorset which hitherto had bden a

desperate service with a lot of disparate providers and the fact

that we had teething problels in the first instance was a real issue for

us that is why we have gone and supported this company in m`king the

improvements that they wantdd to do. Are you confident now that patients

will no longer experience the inconvenience they have dond up

until this point? I am confhdent that we will continue to make

improvements and we have already seen the improvement in the last few

weeks and I have no doubt that will continue.

We have to leave it there. Thank you very much for joining us thhs

evening. Our Political Editor Martyn Oates

has been following Martyn,

what's been the reaction thdre? The government has had very little

to say about it and it has sent it back down to the south`west and said

it is the responsibility of Clinical Commissioning Group is on the ground

to ensure that patient transport reaches the right standards. That is

not good enough according to the Exeter MP Brent Bradshaw. `` Ben

Bradshaw. The government forcing local commissioners to go ott to the

private sector like this and contract out based on cost, not

quality. We have seen it tile and again and in Cornwall with the out

of hours service said the government is at fault here. It is also the

responsibility of the local commissions to ensure that the

service they commission is `dequate and of quality and this cle`rly is

not. They need to do somethhng about it. There is wider criticisl of

health policies this week. Yes they represent `` the union that

represents doctors is having an annual conference and it has kicked

itself off with a broadside at the government. They have been critical

of underfunding of the NHS `nd also extremely critical of private sector

involvement. The government has misguided policies that are creating

a bizarre market culture and NHS managers are being driven to

distraction by the madness of the market. They say that essentially

the NHS does not have time to be obsessed with private companies tend

in it `` private companies tendering and being compassionate intdnding to

the week. He says essentially while the NHS is working to improve

services for the patients, the government policies are working in

the opposite director. `` dhrection. You get the picture. I think we will

have a lot more in the same vein in the next few days, certainlx more on

the Sunday Politics later this week. And here at Spotlight we'd like to

hear what you think about that. You can do that via e`mail, Twitter,

or Facebook. Flowers have been laid

in tribute to a 16`year`old boy from Plymouth who died yesterday after

falling from a bridge over the A38. The headmaster of

St Boniface College, where the teenager was a pupil, said

he was one of its brightest stars. Police say the death isn't

being treated as suspicious. Muller Wiseman Dairies has confirmed

it will close its depot at Pensilva near Liskeard,

with the loss of almost 60 jobs The milk processing

and distribution business announced in May that it was consulting on the

future of the distribution depot. The dairy's decided to wind up

the operation in a move that affects A construction worker has bden flown

to Derriford Hospital with head injuries after an accident

at the new waste incinerator plant The man is reported to have

fallen around 30 feet. The Environment Agency has been

setting out its ?10 million plan to protect part

of the south coast near Dawlish It wants to take the profild

of the coast at Dawlish Warren back to how it was in the 1940s `nd the

work could involve dredging large amounts of sand just off Exlouth and

pumping it across to the Warren Other hard sea defences would also

be needed to help protect the main Spotlight's environment

correspondent Adrian Campbell A sunny summers day looking out

across the water from Exmouth to Dawlish. All is calm. There is a

problem. Large quantities of sand have moved out to see over recent

years. This winter it is thought that hundreds of thousands of times

have gone from Dawlish Warrdn and there have been significant losses

in Exmouth as well. The winter storms showed the importancd of ``

importance of Dawlish Warren in protecting vital infrastructure and

the Environment Agency has `n ambitious plan to help with the

problems of erosion. Martin Davies says it is vital to get on with the

work. One of the features of the South Devon coast in partictlar is a

lot of communities have been built up on Saltmarsh so areas th`t

flooded readily from the se` and they have now been developed. When

you get significant storms nature is doing what it wants to do is

reclaiming these areas so wd need to invest on schemes to stop

significant flooding which would happen if we did not improvd them.

On a warm summer 's day sea level rise may not see a problem `` may

not seem a problem but people are concerned about the risk to the main

attraction. We want to put `` we want to protect our beach. Ht is the

longest beach on the whole of Devon, over two miles of golden sands and

it is a wonderful asset to the town. As well as protecting Dawlish

Warren we want our beach detected as well. Across the water at D`wlish

the Environment Agency has `mbitious plans to recharge the beach using

sand dredged out at sea. Thdre would also be other works to improve the

hard sea defences. The sand has gone way down and this is a beautiful

beach so it is a shame to sde that. There is plenty of sand between

Dawlish and Exmouth and the Environment Agency says it hntends

to work with nature and movd some of it back to the warrant. `` to

Dawlish Warren. A strike by French workers hs

forcing Exeter based airlind Flybe The official six day strike starts

today and will last for a wdek. French aviation authorities have

asked the firm to reduce its The airline is advising passengers

travelling to and from France to check if their flight's still

on before heading to the airport. Lifesaving defibrillators

which give the heart an electric shock when someone is having

a heart attack have been given to Around 20 volunteers have

been trained to use them. Biologists in Cornwall say

the abundance of massive barrel jellyfish off the county's coast

this summer is leading to shghtings The turtles are attracted to

the Cornish coast by the metre wide jellyfish,

which are full of nutrients. A new study has shown that Harlequin

ladybirds are preying on native species in the south`west. Ht is one

of the most quickly spreading native `` species. Growing numbers are

being seen in the south`west and they are eating locals PCs. `` most

quickly spreading invasive speeches. Reduce VAT on tourism ` MPs join

the campaign to help the industry. And finding solace on stage `

the musical inspired by the loss Now to the story

which has grabbed your interest Mobile phone reception,

or rather the lack of it. We heard last night how not spots

were driving many So today we sent

Spotlight's Cornwall reportdr David George to the area th`t drew

the largest number of complaints to see it for himself

and to find out about the challenges Beautiful bay on Cornwall's north

coast between Newquay and P`dstow. The sea wash and blocks all you can

hear and you are not likely to be troubled by the ring of a mobile

phone. I can point you to a spot on the sand dunes where the dunes are

quite high and if you face hn the right direction you might bd able to

get half a conversation with somebody. Just up the Valiente

Hamlet has all mod cons excdpt mobile phone signals. About a

two`mile radius where we ard now you cannot pick up a mobile signal which

causes problems to a lot of people, obviously people who live hdre,

holiday`makers who come in, but more important li `` importantly elderly

people who need to be in communication with relatives and

farmers who need to do business and people who work from home. Ht

becomes a real problem in this area. They reckon 80% of the parishes here

are not spots, that is hundreds of locals and thousands of

holiday`makers affected. Devon and Cornwall business counsellor worried

that people heading to Cornwall for these short breaks, business people

who must always stay in touch may be put off from coming. It is `

possibility. We heard on thd news yesterday about a certain ilportant

gentleman who has to go homd because he cannot receive his important

calls down here and I am sure he is not the only one. It looks like this

could be the Prime Minister's favourite beach. It is a lovely spot

for a break as long as you do not have to stay in touch. We asked the

major mobile phone companies why coverage here was so patchy and what

they would do about it. Thex said they would respond by e`mail which I

can get here on my .Mac mobhle phone. When we did eventually get a

signal we found that only O2 had replied. A spokesman said they were

happy to have a dialogue with the government on mobile phone coverage

and they spend millions of pounds on the network every year and cover 99%

of the UK population. They have been working with Vodafone to pull parts

of the network. He admitted that will not help if there is no network

at all. Sailing and the Round Britahn

and Ireland yacht race has dnded with a new record being set

in the mono`hull catagory. The boats set off

on their 2,000 mile voyage from Plymouth just over two weeks ago

with Belgian yacht Brusails arriving Falmouth pair Will Claxton `nd Matt

Gill took the multi`hull title. their first defeat this sumler

in cricket's County Championship. Somerset's last pair of Petdr Trego

and North Devon's Jamie Overton put on 71 to keep title rivals

Nottinghamshire at bay at With one days remaining Nottingham

need a further 86 to win with eight wickets intact.

Some of the region's MP are joining hoteliers in their campaign calling

on the Government to charge the tourism industry less V@T.

Currently the UK is one of only four countries

in the EU not to reduce the rate of tax on its good and servhces to

From Torquay here's our South Devon reporter John Ayres.

Are we paying over the odds for a good old British holiday? M`ny in

the tourism industry think we are because of tax. The tax that we call

a VAT is regulated by the ET but tourism is one area where there is

room to manoeuvre and the UK is one of only four countries in the EU not

to take advantage of it. Holiday`makers in the ``

holiday`makers in the UK ard paying twice as much VAT as holidax in

Spain and Italy and three thmes as much as those holidaying in France

and Germany. That can make ` difference in what is a verx

competitive market. This hotel in Torquay has signed up to thd

campaign calling for VAT in tourism to be reduced. One of the things we

have noticed here is that as these pound is strengthening against the

euro our foreign visitors h`ve fallen quite dramatically and it

shows the market is quite price sensitive. When you look at the VAT

rates they pay on their hotdls it is little wonder they think our hotels

are expensive in comparison. The campaign to lower VAT would mean

prices can be lowered to invest more visitors which would `` attract more

visitors which would invite more money to invest. It would encourage

more people to take holidays in this country, not only that, it would,

well, more revenue to the hotels and things like that. At the molent we

take one holiday a year, solewhere in Britain for maybe a week or two

weeks but if they were cheaper then we might go twice or three times.

What it has cost us to come to Torquay, we're off to the Greek

islands were about the same money. There we are guaranteed sun as well.

It would not influence me pdrsonally but it may influence other people. A

Treasury spokesman said thex recognised the importance of the

industry but they do not have plans for a VAT cut for the sector because

it would lead to a signific`nt revenue shortfall that would have to

be met through increased taxes or increase borrowing.

A woman from North Devon who turned to writing to help her deal with

grief after he daughter died while training for Ten Tors is

about so see her first play take to the stage Jennifer Wilkin Shaw's

Not only did she write the play but she's directing it to

for its run at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple next month.

Hamish Marshall has been to rehearsals.

On stage a play about the problems facing many in Britain todax,

poverty, unemployment and homelessness. It has helped other

deal with her problems of P`risian meant. You do not need to do

anything for the moment... Jennifer's life was turned tpside

down in 2007 when her daughter Charlotte drowned while trahning for

ten Tors. A few years earlidr her husband had died. When her grief

subsided she threw herself hnto something she had never dond before,

writing and directing a mushcal I still have difficult times, mornings

and nights and the loneliness, the difficulty of loss is always going

to be with me but I think when you decide that you are living, you have

to live as well as you can `nd you have to put things into perspective.

Hence a show that is about reconciliation. Through an `ct of

kindness a jobless Goodie brings an evil boss to his knees and their

salvation. She tries but I think we are very difficult sometimes to work

with but she tries her harddst and the fact she has written it from her

heart and if we can look at it in the same way we will put thd same

sort of passion into it. Shd has worked day and night on it `nd

sometimes we feel we have not put enough effort in because we feel bad

for her and this is her babx and she has put everything into a t`b and

want to do a proud. And what of the daughter whose death put her on the

road to the stage? In her thmes of seriousness I think she would say

that I am a good example now, so I think she would be proud. She would

also probably want to do sole gymnastics across the stage and

probably a little bit of disruption but I think she would be proud of

me. The musical is at the Qteens Theatre in Barnstaple on thd 17th

and 18th of July. Great stuff. It is time for the weather forecast now.

Will the sunshine really go away? All good things have to comd to an

end. Can we make it stay?

I have done my best. There hs a change in the forecast. We will see

more clouds developing, particularly towards the end of the week and

there is some rain in the forecast. For some it will be welcome but for

others it will draw to a close a nice spell of summer weather that we

have been enjoying. More cloud around tomorrow so they slow changes

happening and the risk of showers. It is still relatively warm but not

as hot as it has been for the last couple of days. Temperatures are

down a few degrees. Alt in the Atlantic there is a lot mord cloud.

It is already across parts of Ireland and the whole lot is moving

slowly and erratically towards us. At the same time another we`ther

system has generated a few showers today across the more northdrn parts

of the country and it will track you across us. It will not have much

left on it but it will introduce fresh conditions and for sole that

will be welcome but the big change happens on Wednesday to Thursday

when the weather system starts to approach. Slow progress but by the

end of Thursday some of us will have seen some outbreaks of rain. As we

move towards the end of the week it is low pressure. I pressure has been

our friend all the way throtgh the last ten days or so and now it is

replaced by low pressure as we head into the weekend. The satellite

picture has more detail. Sole of this cloud will heads towards us but

there is a arena to left on it. This was earlier today across East

Dartmoor where our cameraman was out enjoying some fantastic views of the

beautiful countryside in thhs part of Devon. A postcard picturd seen.

The blue sky set off by such lush green foliage, the countryshde is

looking very splendid at thd moment. Not everyone is happy with `ll of

the flower was because the pollen has been very high for the last four

days. Rain in the air at thd end of the week will help with that because

it washes a lot of dust and pollen out of the air. Tonight temperatures

will dip down as low as 11 or 1 degrees. Slightly cooler th`n it was

last night but for many of ts it is still quite a warm night. Lhght

winds and more cloud creeping in from the north in the second half of

the night. Tomorrow we will expect more of the same. Patchy cloud

around and gradually we will start to see that generate some showers.

The sunshine will become a bit limited in the afternoon with

generally a lot of cloud for most of us so a different story to tell The

wind will freshen along the south coast and it will feel cooldr. For

all of us with less sunshind around the temperatures are down from a

view degrees from where we have been used to. The forecast for the Isles

of Scilly. Here there is generally a lot of cloud, dry but more cloud in

general here. Times of high water. Surfing will improve as we head into

the weekend, more of a breeze developing will help to lift the

surf somewhat but it is still a little bit flat along the south

coast. The north coast may get two feet but it is not much mord than if

it really over the next 24 hours or so. The sea temperature is pretty

high for the time of year. That is all the strong sunshine makhng a

difference. The coastal watdrs forecast has the winds

north`easterly. Into the evdning it could pick up to force five along

the south coast of Cornwall but generally fair with good visibility.

In comes the change, a lot lore cloud and showers. We will see

outbreaks of rain on Thursd`y, turning showery on Friday and

Saturday and some of those showers could be quite heavy and also cooler

conditions for all of us. Wd have gone down to about 17 degreds as we

head into the weekend. It h`d to end and we have had a good spell and

hopefully things will improve XP. Have a good evening.

David is not our favourite person any more! That is it from us. The

late news tonight is at 10:40 p m.. I hope you can join us for that

Goodbye. Catch the late-afternoon games

on the go.