the catastrophic impact on the pandemic on many patients needing nhs treatment. almost 6 million people in england are waiting for routine operations and procedures but the committee says demands of staff shortages ruin plan to tackle the backlog. operating theatres stood idle, some were converted into temporary intensive care units. the nhs was braced for a covid surge in the first wave. only emergency procedures were done. so, patients hoping for planned surgery had to wait. now, a commons committee has set out the consequences. the chair says it's made an existing problem worse and radical action is needed. i'm worried that we could turn a temporary crisis caused by the pandemic into a permanent change in the landscape where itjust becomes the norm for people to wait years and years for their operations. and without some really major reforms, particularly to make sure that we're training enough doctors and nurses for the future, i'm afraid that is, again, on the horizon. chris is one of those who missed out. he's supported by the versus arthritis charity. his hip replacement was cancelled in march 2020 and he's still waiting. well, the impact has been catastrophic in the way of my life. i can't go out. i've been homebound now for two years. it does need sorting, because the queues for people waiting for operations is only going to get longer and longer and longer. there are certainly major long—term challenges, but are there shorter—term solutions? well, one idea is surgical hubs, stand—alone units like this one. patients here are all recovering after planned orthopedic surgery. it's a specialist centre, and operations are carried out six days a week. the lead surgeon said it was important to be separate from other areas of the hospital. these beds are ring—fenced and we can get the patients who need planned surgery in without that being compromised by patients needing emergency treatment. so, if you have that right kind of infrastructure, then you can start making inroads into the huge waiting lists. just going to pop this probe on your finger... catherine has been waiting since last april for her hip replacement, but she was in today to have the operation. just getting up, walking, it's very difficult to put any socks on or anything, or bend down — don't ask me to get on the floor, you'd never get me up again. i'm so glad they've got me in to have the surgery done. solutions like this represent a start, but stopping waiting lists rising, never mind bringing them down, will be a huge logistical challenge. for scotland, wales and northern ireland, as well as england, the pandemic has created a growing problem of delayed care, which could have long—term consequences for public health. hugh pym, bbc news. now on bbc news, it's time for our world. for nearly 400 years, the british royal family has reigned over barbados. but next week, the islands will replace queen elizabeth with a president. my family is british and barbadian, so they have some big questions about it all. change is good. you can't stay the same all the time. i don't accept it. a history of slavery and colonial rule mean some are keen to move on from the past. they had to bow before they got paid? yeah, it was a feudal system. daniel, you must compose yourself. you look as though you're ready to cry. and now the politicians have had their say, i'm here to ask barbadians what it means, and why now. some people would say, why should we have an allegiance to the uk when in our hour of need, they're not there for us? barbados. a tiny paradise island in the blue—green waters of the caribbean. on november 30, this commonwealth nation will remove the queen as its head of state and become the world's newest republic. the decision was made without a referendum. barbados declared independence from britain in 1966, but now, the government has said it's time for barbados to finally leave its colonial past behind. current governor—general sandra mason will become its first president. the mantle of leadership falls fully to the post—independence generations of barbadians. it is those generations who must now define how our country and citizens will dominate the world stage, create a new vision and build barbados�*s future. barbados to me is where my story begins. i was born in britain, my grandparents are from here, it's happy memories, it's the rum shops, it's the people. but everything that my grandparents showed me when i was growing up seems to be changing. my granddad's story is typical of many barbadians, or �*bajans�*, as we're known. he moved to england as a young man, hoping to better himself. but what i didn't know is before he did, he worked on a sugar plantation. so this lane might not look like much, but it's special, because we're walking in my granddad's footsteps. and just around the corner is something that ties together the queen, britain and my family. this is the belle plantation. at its peak, nearly 300 slaves were forced to live and work here. after slavery was abolished, it was bought by a family who were close relatives of the queen. she came to visit this place on her last trip 55 years ago. hi! good to see you! good to see you my brother, give me an elbow bump. so this is the belle plantation. sad to say, sad to say, but it's faded glory. trevor marshall is a historian and a leading pro—republic campaigner. daniel, this is where the bookkeeper, as it was called, this is where he or the manager paid the workers on fridays. you know, at the desk. the people lined up out here. they lined up out here like... laughs ..like if they come for the dole. _ they filed in, and got there and bowed...yes. they had to bow before they got paid? yeah, bowed and scraped. it was, as i said, a feudal system. i know my granddad worked here at the sugar factory at the belle plantation. you're saying that he would've had to come here and bow his head before collecting...? not everybody was so deferential, but the average person, it was ingrained in you from the time of slavery. cap in hand, like the typical english labourer, "yes, guv�*nor," and, you know, you are doing yourfavour, you are paying me. daniel, you must compose yourself, you look as though you're ready to cry. careful of the holes here. and you, not only careful of this, but the ceiling, the ceiling is disintegrating. can you imagine this in its period of glory? all of this, i mean, look at how many rooms. this was magnificent, so to see it degenerate to this point... it may sound strange, it may sound as though i am seized with that same kind of feudal deference, but we looked on the plantation great houses as symbols of the importance of barbados. do you think that those mixed feelings — do you think that we are seeing them as barbados approaches becoming a republic? if we were to have a referendum now, 66% of barbadians would not want the republic. do you think? as high as that? i can tell you, they don't know what it is. as a historian, i'm called upon a daily, nightly basis to explain to people and to calm their fears. will the currency be devalued, will we be able to travel to england again, are we going to stop the queen from coming here, the queen and prince harry, what about meghan, are we going to become a banana republic, will we be like venezuela or cuba? it is such a gap from the man that trevor would have been talking about, who would have been working here as my granddad was, to the man that i knew, who made a family in britain, and then came back to barbados and made his life. the fact that that's part of his story means it is part of mine, and being in this building, i am finding that really... ..difficult to comprehend, really. after he returned from london in 1984, he opened a rum shop. it used to be busy and full of life. this picture here, i think, really captures the essence. you have got nan on one side, arm around me, protective. you've got granddad on the left, chest out, back straight, and then me in the middle, of course. he was never shy of an opinion, he knew what he thought, he liked to have a talk, he liked to debate. with all of these changes in barbados, i know he would've had something to say about it. and, you know, it isjust... it's just sad that i can't talk to him now. my granddad passed away 14 years ago but i still have family here who knew him well. so we're just around the corner from my auntie marjorie and uncle noel. they were really close with my granddad and my nan, so if anyone�*s going to know anything about what they would have made of this, it's them. so it's a good place to start, i think. hello! uncle! long time! good to see you. auntie! flowers for you, dear. thank you! i will give you a kiss, even though i have the mask, i'm double jabbed now, they tested me, i'm fine. they were supposed to come to my wedding this summer, but the pandemic meant they couldn't make it. it's true. got some pictures for you. i will show you these. that is a closer one of granddad there. it's funny, because granddad always had something to say. i'd just love what he would have thought about it all. all these changes. change is good. you can't stay the same all the time. you've got to move on, you can't say the same all the time. i don't accept it. all of my money is in england still. our pension and everything is still in england. i have assurances, the pension will still be the same. but things don't say the same, things hae to change — changes bring success sometimes. generations of british influence have left quite a mark here. road signs and institutions mimic their counterparts across the atlantic. the national sport is cricket, played at the familiar sounding kensington oval in the capital, bridgetown. roland butcher was born in barbados and moved to england when he was 13. he became the country's first ever black test cricketer. fellow wrote a poem to me, really outlining what a shame it was to have picked a black man for england and so forth and so forth. and the other one was from a west indian fellow, who saw this selection as going back to the days of slavery. exploitation all over again. he's invited me for a knockabout on the beach. roland's debut was against the west indies, right here in bridgetown in 1981. he played most of his career for middlesex, and even met the duke of edinburgh on more than one occasion. roland, what do you think about the republic? what the benefits of being a republic, i don't know. but what i would say is that i think england as a country, the question is, have they really done enough to stay in the game? is it a sense for you that england, because of its... more than 300 years in control of barbados, ended up taking it for granted? i think what really was needed was for england to accept the atlantic slave trade, accept that as something that happened. also accept that institutions and individuals in england benefited from it, and i believe in the call for reparations. for me reparations would be the forgiveness of any debts that barbados has, also the building of some schools, you know, we have suffered in the last two years, and we have been suffering in this region for quite a while. but england really didn't do a great deal, so other people came along and offered their help, and obviously barbados needed it. i think countries like china has been a lot more friendly to barbados. i mean, lots of investment and loans, etc. so some people would say that why should we have an allegiance to the uk, when in our hour of need, they're not there for us? the government says nothing much will be different after next week. however, work on a new constitution is under way. and some of the island's public services like the police will also be renamed. one big physical change here is at the parliament. it's having the biggest renovation in its 130 year history. the timing is a coincidence. we are not leaving any stones unturned and we're making sure that this refurbishment is one of the most comprehensive that this building will get. tyrell is in charge of the work. it's the biggest project of his career. it has been degraded to such a point that standing on the ground, you could not see it. we have a severe termite infestation, some water damage. the very bones of this building reflect its links to britain, from the way the whole main chamber is laid out. so we are in the house of assembly right now, which is the lower house. right now, obviously everything is gone. but the prime minister would sit on this side of the aisle and the opposition would sit on the other side. the speaker usually sits directly in the middle, and this is where all the great debates and stuff like that happens. almost identical, really, to the uk parliament, you know, the way that it's set up. it's really incredible, walking around and seeing so many parts of the building that still look and feel british, given the republic and this restoration, but, at the same time, what i think is quite exciting — if you're from barbados — is that this time, it's by choice. and in sight of the senate is the highest—profile change so far. last year, to great fanfare, the statue of lord nelson was removed. it stood here for 200 years in the area that used to be called trafalgar square. do you think that anything material will change on december ist? when everyone wakes up? to me, nothing will change for the average barbadian. we will still be who we are. in terms of material stuff, we'll know that everything that is here, we own, everything that is here is ours, everything that we look forward to, we have to put in place for ourselves. there's no more dependency, there's no more of this looking to someone else — we are just going to be us. there are some people who say "well, �*republic�* means we should tear down all remnants of the british and start from scratch". what you think about that? when you leave home, do you discard your parents? you don't. what you do is that you set up in the new house but you still keep your parents. you understand their role, you understand their responsibilities, you understand where you came from. history is important. your whole bloodline is important. in recent years, there's been increased awareness of the civil rights of black people after a series of events made headlines around the world. cheering and applause. in britain, there was the windrush scandal in 2018, when people who'd legally migrated there in the 19405 found they and their descendants being threatened with deportation. some families, after a lifetime in the uk, suddenly felt unwelcome. hey, daniel! hey! hey, paul! thanks for the lift! welcome to barbados, man, welcome to barbados. good to see you, denise! denise and her husband paul decided to leave london three years ago, and just bought a house here in fortescue. you see all these dead—end rods — they're just the cul—de—sacs that will eventually have the housing. we're driving up to the cliff edge, it's quite bumpy, but it'll be worth it when we get there. look at the potential and the mystery of it. it's so beautiful and awesome. and we talk about, that's nature, that's natural, right? and then you look across here to fortescue — i mean, it's a very special spot, and it put things into perspective in terms of life. it's home. you get a sense of belonging when you're here. denise has set up her own nail bar. so have you got any bajan nail specialities down there? well, um... wow, that is very patriotic! laughs. denise's mother spent most of her life in britain. her parents are part of the windrush generation who went over with the promise of work. but in 2001, she decided to return to the caribbean. barbados is about to make this change, removing the queen as head of state. what you think about the decision? i don't have anything personally against the queen and the royal family — i think they're lovely people — but i do believe it's the right time. a sense of identity. a true sense of belonging. you know, there's a lot of things that went on that i think myself, "why is it still an issue because you have a certain background or a certain culture that you're left to feel unwelcome?" obviously, in london, it's great, it's a cosmopolitan city, but there is still an element of... you're not quite welcome. with brexit, i think that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. it was almost like yeah, "if brexit happens, we'll get ourjobs back". "if brexit happens, immigration and foreigners are out". you know, it was like that. ijust think this is probably, i am hoping it will be - a good move. yeah. before i leave barbados, i've been invited to the friday fish fry at the busy oistins market. i'm meeting some of my new friends here, roland butcher and the young crickets from from earlier. what's going on fellas? time forfood? any favourites? again, we've been here a few days and it's not often that i've come across people who are as excited about it as you — you two. it does feel like it could be a difference in generation, you know, in terms of perspective and who is excited about this and who is not. can ijust get a show of hands of how many of you are thinking about leaving barbados to work somewhere else? ok, that's pretty much — that's all of you. um, with the republic coming up, does that change those ambitions at all? if it does, put your hand up. if it doesn't, then leave them down. they may be excited about the change, but not enough to keep them living and working in barbados. what the guys had to say really challenged my perspective on this whole republic thing. i mean, who is it really for? who's going to benefit? is it gonna stop young people wanting to leave the country in search of opportunities, like my granddad had to do 55 — 50—odd years ago? i set off to discover what the birth of the new republic means for bajans, and ifound a genuine desire for a new start here. if the move to republic creates confidence in the country's future, then who knows what barbados can achieve? hello. well, it's going to be cold for another day or so, and after that, things will turn a little less cold, but there's a big low pressure out there in the atlantic. you can see the cold fronts sweeping across the uk. behind it, that speckled cloud, the shower clouds, some of them wintry, carried by a pretty cold current of air coming off the north atlantic. but i think come the weekend, this next low pressure — this is another one — will come our way and will also warm things up a little bit, but until then, still the risk of snow and ice through the early hours and into friday, mostly but not exclusively northern parts of the uk. so, here's the weather map, the forecast early friday. you can see wintry showers across the pennines, the highlands, parts of northern ireland, too. temperatures close to freezing early on friday, so icy patches possible. again, mostly across the northern half of the uk and the south, it's just a little bit too mild. on the whole, not a bad day for many of us across eastern areas of the uk. out towards the west, we'll have those showers and a good old breeze at least for the first half of the day. then in the southwest, we'll see a spell of rain sweeping through during the afternoon, so cardiff and plymouth, possibly portsmouth, will be wet for a time on friday before it dries out. here's the next low pressure. that's the one that's actually moving through right now, but this is the next one on friday. and here's the weather front, the cold front that moves through during the first half of saturday across the uk. rain and wind — a really unpleasant picture early in the day, but notice that it does tend to dry out at least somewhat second half of the day on saturday, although it could stay wet across eastern areas. you can see the temperatures back into double figures, so it's not going to be quite so cold, but the wind will make it feel pretty nippy. and then, sunday, actually we're in between weather systems — one out there in the north sea, this approaching. we're in between, so sunday isn't looking too bad at all. temperatures will be a little lower, between, say, 5—8 degrees for the most part, maybe a little bit milder in cornwall and devon. but on the whole, out of the two days, i think sunday is looking better. and thereafter, it really does turn just that little bit milder with temperatures perhaps reaching 13 degrees in some southern and southwestern areas. bye— bye. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: # sweet land of liberty... us politicians hold a vigil on the steps of the capitol building to mark one year since the attack asjoe biden blames donald trump for the riot. the former president of the united states of america has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. russian soldiers arrive in kazakhstan to help crush anti—government protests. reports say security forces have taken control of central almaty. the clashes are taking place just a few hundred metres away from where i'm standing now. you can hear the sound of shooting and explosions. the family of novak djokovic