this is bbc news, the headlines at four. the nhs under pressure; nine out of ten hospitals in england have been dangerously overcrowded this winter. the government steps up efforts to recover money from non—eu patients by asking hospitals to charge them up front for non—emergency care. stefano brizzi, a killer who strangled a police office and tried to dissolve his body in acid, has died in prison. the main centre—right french presidential candidate, francois fillon, apologises over employing his wife and children but insists he's got nothing to hide. the prime minister insists britain wants to remain a good friend and ally to the eu long after brexit. we in britain want a strong strong and successful european union because that is in our interests and the interests of the whole world. i'm rebecca jones, also in the next hour, the latest presidential twitter tirade as donald trump takes to social media to ramp up his attacks on the judge that overturned his travel ban on seven muslim majority countries.

the queen makes history today, reaching her sapphire jubilee after a record 65 years on the throne. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the number of patients on hospital wards has been at levels deemed to be unsafe in nine out of ten nhs trusts in england this winter — that's according to the bbc‘s analysis of nhs figures. the pressure on beds has meant many patients have been at a higher risk of infection and delays in getting treated. up—to—date figures aren't available for the rest of the uk. nhs england says the main problem is finding alternative care for patients who were medically well but frail. our correspondent, jane dreaper,

has been to a hospital in somerset to see just how much pressure the nhs is under. it's been a very difficult winter at yeovil hospital in somerset. like many other hospitals in england, they've had to battle behind the scenes here to find enough free beds in recent weeks. you can get periods particularly over the winter period when you are managing bed by bed, minute by minute and teams are having to spend a lot of time and energy running around finding their bed for the next patient that needs it and moving patients between beds isn't ideal, we don't like doing it unless we really have to, but sometimes you have to prioritise clinically who needs to be in the right bed. ideally hospitals have patients in around 85% of their beds so there's time for cleaning and space for urgent cases. our analysis of nhs figures show most hospitals in england were above the recommended rate this winter. nearly half those trusts had occu pa ncy levels a bove 95%. up to date figures were available

for the rest of the uk. up to date figures weren't available for the rest of the uk. most hospitals in europe run at 80% capacity and they cannot understand when we talk to them and say that we run our hospitals at 95% capacity, they just think it's a very odd way, and also, to be frank, a slightly dangerous way to run a hospital system if you're doing that day in, day out. nhs england said the practice of using beds intensively was like to do continue. meanwhile, a poll carried out by ipsos morrie for the bbc suggests in england 57% blame a shortage of staff or lack of funding for the current pressures. the government in england says although the nhs is busier than ever, patients rate their care highly. let's go live to nottingham, and speak to rob sissons, health correspondent for midlands today. this is one of the busiest a&es in

england and it's been a really tough winter here, unprecedented pressure on the queens medical centre in nottingham. one of the main problems is the flow of patients through the entire system. it's not all down to problems with social care, some of it is delays in the hospital itself getting patients home. it might be delays getting medication or it might be delays getting scans organised. to track all of this now, for the first time this winter, this hospital trust has been using computer—based technology to track what is going on and how many bed shortages they've got and the delays. i've been taking a look. one of nottingham's wards where they are using a centre called nerve centre. bed shortages, getting tests organised, they can see the hold—ups at the touch of a button. clinicians have hand—held devices so they have access to patients in their hands. the system is live so information is

update and it's accessible to the teams. the last thing most patients wa nt of teams. the last thing most patients want of course is a day where their ca re want of course is a day where their care doesn't seem to move forward. it might be because of delays in tests or assessments. the new it system calls these red days. it's a day that doesn't add value to that patient. so we could have needed an internal investigation or a referral oi’ internal investigation or a referral ora internal investigation or a referral or a bed externally or something to be done by a community partner. eight patients out of 29 on this ward had a red day. when things are running smoothly, they call them green days. reg's care was going well but he's noticed the pressure the nursing staff are under this winter. the nurses are amazing. they've got so much work to do and so they've got so much work to do and so many distractions. i don't know how they do it. i think the system or the results is really good. instead of them having them hanging at the end of the bed on paper, it's better. the problems

are delays in getting people out of hospital into the community. it high lites a lot of the issues being shown. all this data makes it easy to spot where the problems are. sorting them out of course is much more difficult. one of the problems, of course, is delays handing over patients where the ambulances. behind me, that has been a problem at many hospitals. that is partly due to problems with the flow of patients through the health and social care system. figures obtained by bbc news today show that bed occupancy by bbc news today show that bed occu pa ncy rates by bbc news today show that bed occupancy rates in england through winter have in nine out of ten trusts been over 85% which is the target. that's not a target plucked out of thin air, it's a number that matters because nhs england tells us above that rate patients are more at risk of infection, more at risk of treatment delays and it can also lead to productivity falls in the nhs which is so important at this

time of year. meanwhile, hospitals in england will have a legal duty to charge overseas patients upfront for non—urgent care if they are not eligible for free treatment. from april this year, so—called health tourists could be refused operations unless they cover their costs in advance. emergency care would still be provided immediately, and billed later. here's our health editor hugh pym. hospitals are already supposed to charge those foreign patients who don't qualify for free non—urgent care, but a report by the national audit office found that money raised next year would fall far short of a £500 million target set by the government. ministers have announced that, from april, nhs trusts in england will have a legal duty to charge upfront for non—emergency care, rather than send invoices after the event. 40% said raising income tax to finance the nhs

would be acceptable. 37% said it would be acceptable for uk citizens to pay for some health services which are currently free. hugh pym, bbc news. stefano brizzi, who was jailed for the murder of 59—year—old police officer gordon semple in london, has died in prison, the ministry ofjustice has said. the prison service says an investigation will take place. a little earlier i spoke with the bbc‘s kathryn stanczyszyn who talked me through the background of the case. stefa no stefano brizzi met 59—year—old pc gordon semple on the gay dating app, grinder. they went back to brizzi's flat in south west london. brizzi claimed that he died accidentally because of a sex game gone wrong, but a jury found that actually, he

had strangled the metropolitan police officer, he then dismembered his body and put it in a bath of acid. thejudge in this case said there were some terrible features. the prosecution experts revealed that actually, brizzi had tried to cook some of the body and cannibalise it as well. terrible details from that case. and brizzi was jailed on 12th december for life with a was jailed on 12th december for life witha minimum was jailed on 12th december for life with a minimum term of 2a years. so what do we know has happened today? we only know basic details at the moment. he wasjust we only know basic details at the moment. he was just a few months into his prison term at belmarsh high security prison. news reports claim he took his own life. the ministry ofjustice said simply that stefa no ministry ofjustice said simply that stefano brizzi died in custody on sunday 5th fennel. as with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the prison prisons and probation ombudsman. police have seized more than 800 weapons and arrested hundreds of suspects in a large—scale operation against gun crime. the arms included pistols, assault

rifles and military—style weapons. with me is our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. tom, how significant is this? this is a huge arsenal of weapons that have been taken off the streets. just to give you some idea. 883 wea po ns streets. just to give you some idea. 883 weapons ta ken streets. just to give you some idea. 883 weapons taken off the streets in total seized by this police operation. now, they estimate about 379 of those would have been viable weapons so 379 of those would have been viable weapons so could have been fired. to give you an idea of how that compares, that's in a month. about 900 weapons is the number of viable weapons the police estimate they seize every year, so what normally happens in a third of the year really seized in one month. what was interesting about this operation was that it was a big nationaljoint scheme bringing in counter—terrorism officers who're looking to try and stop terrorism to also look at the use of guns by organised criminals

and the police have said they are concerned at the possibility that guns might be passed from criminals to terrorists. so we asked them whether there was any evidence that that was going on and they said fortu nately that was going on and they said fortunately this operation hadn't found any intelligence really of any seriousness that that was a risk. they said there was some historical links between people who had been involved in terrorism and criminals but they were quite tenuous. so this is what chris mckeown, the deputy director of the national crime agency said. the reality is that the threat of a firearm is an ongoing threat and, no matter how much work we do, you can't be complacent. we must make sure we pursue every opportunity we can. following carl. following on from that, given people's legitimate concerns about gun crime, should we be reassured?” think so. if they found serious intelligence, that would be of concern, although it mayjust be the start of a much more coordinated

attempt to try and sfop guns, whether they are getting into terrorists hands or criminal hands. britain is an island and we are an island with quite strict gun laws sothe general concept of the police or view of the police is that we are pretty safe compared to other countries when it comes to gun crime and this operation should make us safer, they say. thank you very much. three labour mps have been awarded £54,000 each in damages at the high court over remarks by a ukip mep made about the rotherham child abuse scandal. sir kevin barron, sarah champion and john healey sued jane collins for slander and libel for comments she made during a speech at her party's conference in 2014. the court was told that the remarks made by mrs collins following the publication of a report into child exploitation in the town had caused extreme distress. our correspondent smith mundasad is at the high court. give us the background? this was all

to do with a speech she made in september 2014 at mp5 a about some of mp5 a about 5ome of the of child exploitation that details of child exploitation that happened in rotherham and done nothing about it. what followed was a very lengthy legal battle. first of all, the mps suggested that she could pay them £10,000 each out of court, but she rejected this. the lawyers acting for the mps said this was motivated by a wish to protect her political reputation and save face. what followed was a very lengthy legal battle, partly because she then suggested she had parliamentary immunity because she was an mep and this went to the parliament in the eu and was rejected in october last year. so finally today, the judge ruled that she would pay compensation to the three mps, but legal costs. {faith-rs“?

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