more than 4.5 million people were waiting to begin hospital treatment in england at the end january, that s the highest number since records began in 2007. the royal college of surgeons has called the situation to turn things around. here s our health editor, hugh pym. hospital wards devoted to covid. the surge in numbers over the last two months led to widespread cancellations of less urgent types of care, and there s still a backlog from last year s first covid peak. today s figures highlight again the scale of the problem. charmaine has severe arthritis, and last year was hoping to have a knee replacement. she was told in november she d have to wait another 12 months. she s currently out of work and the task of finding a newjob keeps getting harder. i hate not being able to work. how do i say to a new employer, thanks for thejob, but maybe in a couple of months, i might need three months off for a knee replacement. patient waits for non urgent care have increased around t
the nhs test and trace system, which is likely to cost the taxpayer £37 billion failed to prevent lockdowns and there is no evidence that cut the number of coronavirus infections. those other findings in the house of commons public accounts committee, publishing a highly critical report of the scheme. it said the cost was staggering and the taxpayers were being treated like a cash machine. hugh pym reports. a testing site, today, now part of everyday life, but it has cost a lot of money to get where we are and a highly critical report by mps has fuelled a new debate on what test and trace has achieved. it was raised at prime minister s questions. the government is throwing a staggering £37 billion at a test and trace system that we know has made barely any difference. the prime minister defended its performance. it is thanks to nhs test and trace that we re able to send kids back to school and begin cautiously and irreversibly to reopen our economy and restart our lives. t
much further than the paris accord, to limit global warming. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week, a look back at some of our favourite european adventures. we test drive the continent s fastest and highest ride. watch some masterpiece maintenance in the netherlands. it looks incredible. yeah. 0h, here we go again. and travel back in time over 2000 years as wejoin the crew of a replica galley in greece. hello, and welcome to the travel show, coming to you from a very chilly st pancras station. now, normally, this place would be bustling with people going back and forth from the uk to the continent on the eurostar. pre pandemic, it was carrying around 11 million passengers every year between britain and mainland europe, but that number has dropped by 95% since last march and, today, i can only see two outbound trains on the board. unfortunately, i m not catching a train today as we are still under lockdown, but that isn t going to stop us from looking back at some o
And the welsh opera singer, bryn terfel. Thick fog is causing delays at airports for a second day. Heathrow says 45 flights have been cancelled, because planes were in the wrong place following yesterdays disruption. And its new year down under, sydney welcomes in 2017 in style with a spectacular firework display. Now on bbc news, witness. Hello, and welcome to witness with me, tanya beckett. Im here at the British Library in london for the last time this year to bring you five of our favourite stories from 2016. Well meet a former member of chairman maos infamous red guards, a woman astronaut who trained with the challenger Space Shuttle crew, and an art restorer who brought a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece back to life. But first, witness has travelled to the Bamiyan Valley in afghanistan. For over 1,000 years two huge statues of Buddha Towered over the valley, but in 2001 they were destroyed by the taliban. Said musa hussein was one of the local people forced to lay dynamite around t
And the welsh opera singer, bryn terfel. Thick fog is causing delays at airports for a second day. Heathrow says 45 flights have been cancelled, because planes were in the wrong place following yesterdays disruption. And its new year down under, sydney welcomes in 2017 in style with a spectacular firework display. Now on bbc news, witness. Hello, and welcome to witness with me, tanya beckett. Im here at the British Library in london for the last time this year to bring you five of our favourite stories from 2016. Well meet a former member of chairman maos infamous red guards, a woman astronaut who trained with the challenger Space Shuttle crew, and an art restorer who brought a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece back to life. But first, witness has travelled to the Bamiyan Valley in afghanistan. For over 1,000 years two huge statues of Buddha Towered over the valley, but in 2001 they were destroyed by the taliban. Said musa hussein was one of the local people forced to lay dynamite around t