25/07/2014 Spotlight

Patients waiting longer, operations cancelled `

the Accident Emergency departments facing unprecedented demand.

Tonight on Spotlight, we'll investigate why more people

are going to A and the strain it's causing.

More patients are attending, patients are waiting longer to be

seen and at times, the department is extremely busy and it puts enormous

pressure on our staff and team. A warning after a growing number

of burns from disposable barbeques. A four`year`old boy is

the latest victim. Beach`goers are asked not

to leave them behind. And making the south`west proud `

the latest on our swimmers going for gold at

the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Three of the region's main Accident

Emergency departments say they're facing unprecedented demand

on their services. The largest hospital, Derriford,

says it's seen a 12% increase Bosses have admitted they're missing

waiting time targets and cancelling There's been an 11% rise

at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and at the Royal

Cornwall, there was a 10% increase. Jenny Kumah looks

at how our hospitals are struggling At this time of year, hospitals tend

to feel the pressure of more holiday`makers in the region. The

hot weather can also make existing illnesses worse and bring on some

conditions. But doctors think there are many reasons why it

unprecedented numbers of patients are coming to the emergency

department. I think we are seeing increased numbers of patients with

minor illness and injury attending. We are also seeing an increase in

sick elderly patients coming in, because we have an ageing population

and they have multiple things that require treatment. At the beginning

of the year, Derriford Hospital's emergency department was named as

the best in the country for seeing patients within national time

limits. But it is often missing that targets now. Managers are trying to

work out what is causing the spike in demand. There is a link, we

think, possibly, with the introduction of 111, but having said

that, we are still working through what that might mean and why those

patients are choosing to attend here. They are meeting the national

target of referring no more than 5% of calls to departments. We don't

prefer lots of people to 111th two A and the ones we do our

appropriate because they have been through the assessment is triage

tool. But we do work with emergency departments on a regular basis, so

if they do have any concerns about patient is being referred

inappropriately, they can feed that back to us. Hospitals are working

with the local commissioning group to find a way forward but there is

only so much cash in the system. There will be an important financial

consideration here, because if we are needing to expend more money

within A, we do not have resources elsewhere necessary that we can draw

on and it will have consequences. NHS England says it has allocated an

extra ?250 million to keep waiting times low. They are also looking at

a fundamental shift in services to help keep the pressure off emergency

departments. Figures out today show

our economy is stronger than before the recession,

but how much is that being reflected One company here sees

more different sides Peek`O, at Beer in East Devon,

is remarkable for being a manufacturer, a publisher,

and a tourist attraction. Our business correspondent

Neil Gallacher reports. This unique business reflects some

trends that are now firmly established in the south`west

economy. A willingness to invest and a sense that the economic outlook is

becoming settled at last. And that is not just in its two wrist side,

but in its core business, but my precision manufacture of model

railway track and, despite the growth of the Internet and digital

media, in its magazine publishing arm which shares this site. The

attraction side has seen visitor numbers up more than 40% in one

year. That is not just because the economy has grown, it is because the

company has picked its moment for a key investment. The company is

always seeking to improve the facilities here and made major

investment last year with our new indoor children's play area. It is

going down really well, it has created a big buzz in the area and

drawing in visitors from a wider area. The boss is the only real

worry is a lack of space. It is a bit of a nightmare, we could do with

a bit of a bigger factory, but we love being in Beer, it is a

magnificent location. Model railways appeal to traditionalists, which may

explain why the magazine publishing site has survived not just the

recession but so far, at least, the onslaught of Internet competition.

The advertising hasn't really suffered at all, with the arrival of

the digital world. Unlike many of the bigger newspapers, or perhaps

the magazines that operate in different markets, lifestyle, that

sort of thing, where we have seen lots of magazines closing and

failing. The business I am speaking to on a daily basis, are willing

more to invest longer term. If you look at 2013, they were holding back

those investment decisions and that is positive and I think we are on

the upward trend. So there you have it, a fascinating business,

manufacturing, exporting, family owned but in the same family since

1946. These are all supposed to be things that a German industry does

so well. Nice to think we can take at least some of those boxes here in

Devon. Our business correspondent

Neil Gallacher reporting A boy has been left with serious

burns after stepping on a discarded barbecue that had been buried

in sand on a beach in Cornwall. The four`year`old needed specialist

hospital treatment for his injuries. The emergency services say they are

seeing a growing number of burn injuries from picnic

barbecues and they are asking people Four`year`old Haytham Chamberlain

had spent the day playing with his family on the dunes on Porthtowan

beach when he accidentally stepped on a hot disposable barbecue that

had been buried in the sand. He trod on the barbecue

and then stood on it and trod on it again, so he trod on it twice and

burnt all the bottom of his foot. My mum was with me

and she's also a lifeguard. She started calling the people

around to get water, so there was quite a good response from people

around, bringing buckets of water He was initially taken to hospital

in Truro, but then had to be transferred to the burns unit at

Derriford for specialist treatment. The emergency services say that

accidents involving these disposable They say people using them

think burying them in the sand In fact they and the sand around

them stay hot for many hours. Beach lifeguards who helped Haytham

on the day have this advice Let the barbecue cool down naturally

for a good period of time. Make sure that no one can step

on it, it is cordoned off. Maybe cover it in sand

and then put water over the top, but then take the whole thing away

when it is nice and cool. Make sure it is cool enough to

touch to be able to pick up. Please make sure it is extinguished,

cold and taken away from the beach. He is going to have a bandage

on their good couple of weeks, He is going to have a bandage

on there for a good couple of weeks, he has to have it bandaged every

couple of days. It just means he can't get around

properly like a child of his age. No, he can't walk on it

at the moment, it is too tender. He definitely won't be going to

the beach again this holiday. Haytham's mother is asking people to

take more care with picnicking She says she doesn't want to see

other children's holidays ruined. The owners of Lands End airport have

confirmed it will be open again Flights were due to resume this week

after upgrading work was carried out on the grass runways but sections

of the new tarmac failed to harden. Passengers heading to the Isles

of Scilly have had to fly The deadline for a decision on the

controversial closure of in`patient beds at Torrington Hospital in Devon

has now been extended. A final decision was due to be made

this week, but North Devon NHS Boards have extended the time

for local people to comment. They now have

until August the 18th to send in The extension follows protests

and a meeting with the local MP, It may be hot and sunny for many

of us at the moment but the prolonged flooding

in Somerset earlier this year is still causing problems ` this time

for the county's tourism industry. Holiday companies say bookings were

down by almost a third in some places and that some

potential visitors are still asking It is worth all of that effort to

get a view of Somerset at its summary best. And this is the kind

of image that tempts holiday`makers into the county. Unfortunately, some

still have this picture, the worst floods for centuries, even though

the water is long gone. Visitors to the West Somerset Railway between

January and June, for example, are down 11% on last year and coach

parties are down 30%. The problem was if it had Somerset in the title,

people were looking for elsewhere in the UK to go for the holidays, even

though it could be six or eight months away. If it had Somerset,

forget it. It means a loss so far this year of ?40,000 for the

attraction. It is not crippling, but it is a worry nonetheless. It should

be the busiest weekend of the year for this campsite near another area

which suffered months of flooding. Somebody from Taunton phoned up this

week to want to know which way can we get to you, are you still

flooded? From Taunton! If someone in Taunton is not sure, you can imagine

there is an image problem nationally. And yes, the owner is

doing something to counter it. We have social media things going, we

have had help from South Somerset, we are doing more advertising, and

we are only half full. I be able to afford to go on holiday and I was

looking forward to. It may be that numbers pick up in the summer and

people didn't make the usual bookings earlier in the year when

flooding was at its worst. But some larger attractions, such as Wookey

hole, say they have had an increase in visitors. But tourist officials

say they need all of the help they can get. I think I need to have

David Cameron to come to Somerset for the weekend away, I think it

would be a great idea. It just puts the spotlight on the county and this

glorious county that we live in. Tourism employees 30,000 people in

Somerset, said any loss is a worry and some estimate that the

flooding, which affected only 2% of the county, could lose tourism as

much as ?250 million. A tiny device developed

by scientists at Exeter University could end up saving thousands

of lives. It's designed to detect

a serious lung disease which is notoriously difficult to diagnose

and often fatal for patients with The device uses an antibody to test

blood samples for an indication Two lines indicate

the patient has the disease. The test kit costs just ?10

and could save the NHS millions. Scott Bingham's been

finding out more. The device comes

in a simple foil package. As simple to use

as a pregnancy test, the lateral flow device detects a condition

which can kill up to 90% of leukaemia and bone marrow transplant

patients who contract it. It was developed by

Dr Chris Thornton and his team at Exeter University and,

after two years of trials, is about I'm really proud to be able to take

my university research and actually take it out into the big wide world

and actually use it constructively for people right around the globe,

it is absolutely fantastic, rather than it just staying within

the university environment. It is really important to me

and everyone else who has Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is

called by the fungus aspergillus, The device means it can be monitored

by a weekly blood test, rather than pumping patients with

expensive and toxic antibiotics. What happens now is we end up having

to treat a lot more people than we need to

for aspergillus, because it is And in patients where we are

really worried that they have aspergillus, we often

end up doing unpleasant invasive tests, like a biopsy of the lung,

putting a camera into the lung. Leukaemia patient Lynne Thorn has

been part of the trial at the I would like to help other people

that are unfortunately going to end up in my position and if it helps

them, with all the treatment we have to be put through, if it helps catch

something very early that can prevent them from being

really unwell with it, The device will be used in hospitals

around the world from next month. Coming up next, going for gold at

the Commonwealth Games, plus, how this ancient design has provided the

inspiration for a brand`new garden. And joined me in Sutton Harbour on

what has been a glorious day. We have always seen the glorious return

of some of our wartime fleet. It's a big night

for two south`west athletes at 19`year`old Ben Proud from Plymouth

is favourite to win gold in the 50m butterfly and Exeter's

Liam Tancock attempts to retain Spotlight's Dave Gibbins has more

on that, along with the rest of Ben Proud goes into this evening's

50m butterfly final with the fastest

qualifying time under his belt. He even took one`hundredth of

a second off his previous time when So on his debut in the Commonwealth

games, Proud is looking good for a gold

medal, thanks to all the hard work We have just been practising,

getting the final details, a lot of international racing to try

and get me to the sort of events so Coming from nowhere to finish second

in the 100m backstroke The reigning Commonwealth champion

has been suffering from injury but is still eyeing up a medal

in tonight's final. Yes, I feel pretty good,

not too bad. Not had the best season,

but it is not about what you do, Plymouth Leander's Jamila Lunkuse

was unlucky not to have qualified The Ugandan won her heat this

morning, but her time was beaten by her rivals in other heats,

so she misses out. Torquay lawn bowler Sophie Tolchard

is in top form as she's helping England progress through the early

rounds in the women's fours. They have already accounted for

Canada and are confident of reaching And in our late news at 10:25, we'll

be getting reaction to Ben Proud and Ben goes just after seven

and again at 9:25pm Next week, Dave will be in Glasgow

to bring us the latest news on south`west competitors

in the Commonwealth Games. Exciting, isn't it, plenty to keep

an eye on.