today at six, the number of people in england waiting more than a year for hospital treatment hits a 12—year high. as nhs staff battle the second wave of the pandemic, some hospitals are once again cancelling non—urgent treatments. i'm in quite a lot of pain, some days are worse than others, sometimes i go into a spasm. you are just left in a sort of wasteland with sort of not knowing what's going on. also tonight, from covid's impact on health care to what it's doing to our economy. the uk's roller—coaster ride — a big rebound over the summer, but signs of another dip as the second lockdown bites. baby deaths at the countess of chester hospital — a maternity ward nurse is charged with murdering eight children. separated by a screen —

the nottingham care home that's hoping rapid covid tests could make face—to—face visits possible again. the olympic boxer nicola adams has to pull out of strictly after her partner, katya jones, tests positive for coronavirus. and coming up on bbc news, can scotland and northern ireland secure victories which will see them join wales and england at next summer's euros? not for six decades have all four home nations featured at a major tournament. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. we know how tackling the coronavirus pandemic has been an all—out effort for the nhs and its staff. new figures published today show another side

of the impact of the pandemic — the number of people facing longer waits for non—covid hospital treatments and operations in england is the highest for 12 years. patients are meant to be seen within 18 weeks of a referral by their gp. but by the end of september, nearly 140,000 people had waited more than a year for non—urgent operations like hip and knee replacements. compare that to a waiting list ofjust over 1,500 — that's what it was in february before the pandemic hit britain. and it could get worse, as some hospitals around the country have started to cut back non—urgent work even further in recent weeks. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has more. it's rather cruel consequence of covid, routine operations and procedures were cancelled to clear hospital beds for coronavirus patients this year. that's meant long waits and increasing pain for

many other patients. this isn't even up many other patients. this isn't even upfor many other patients. this isn't even up for discussion, you need both hips replaced... since last year, helen has struggled with arthritis in her hips. she was told she needed a double replacement and went in for an assessment in september. but she heard nothing since. i'm in quite a lot of pain, some days are worse than others. sometimes i go into a spasm. itsjust than others. sometimes i go into a spasm. its just not knowing, than others. sometimes i go into a spasm. itsjust not knowing, i don't know if i should be walking or sitting down, resting. there'sjust nobody telling me. what i should and shouldn't do and when it might happen. hospital leaders argue that, since the summer, there has been an increase in the number of patients getting nonurgent treatment is covid pressures eased , getting nonurgent treatment is covid pressures eased, but it's been hard to bring down the back log and cope with new work coming in. cancer treatment has been affected too, partly because people might have been worried about going into

hospitals. around 888,000 patients had checks for potential cancer between april and september, but thatis between april and september, but that is down 27% on the same period last year. the number actually starting treatment was 121,900 between april and september, that is down 22%. nhs england says cancer services for new patients coming forward to their gps and then needing treatment are back to where they were before the covid crisis, but charities and campaigners argue that a backlog of work has built up over the last six months and that has been harmful for over the last six months and that has been harmfulfor some patients. it's incredibly serious, it's probably the worst cancer crisis in my lifetime, and the problem is cancer doesn't wait, there is data out now saying that even for a four wait delay, you can have another 10% reduction in survival. sarah had successful treatment for cancer and is in remission but she needs restorative surgery. there have been delays and she hasn't been told when the next operation will happen.

being left in a state of not knowing, because there isn't anyone to call, because they are too busy. someone like me, who is recovering from cancer, but, you know, it's not life or death, you are just left in a sort of wasteland with a sort of not knowing what's going on. because of the surge in covid cases and admissions of more seriously ill patients, some major hospitals are having to postpone nonurgent surgery again. that can only mean waiting list are getting longer and more discomfort for those who have already faced frustration and delays. right, the latest government figures show there were 33,470 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. so far, no figures have been published for the number of deaths reported in the same period. well, let's join well, let'sjoin our well, let's join our health editor, hugh pym, who is here with me now. those numbers of new cases, a

record, hugh, this is not over by a long way. what are the implications for hospitals? well, george, yes, a very big spike in the latest daily reported case number, more than 10,000. now, we have had warnings from nhs england and others, don't read too much into one day's figures, they can be distorted by cases from previous days coming through, and actually the rolling average is much more accurate, that is still around 22—23,000. actually, though, public health england have told me this evening that it could reflect infections picked up just before lockdown, cos takes five or six days for symptoms to deliver. so it could have been more activity then, and it could be that what looked like a levelling off in cases isn't actually happening because that reflected half term before, with fewer people getting tested and so on. with fewer people getting tested and so on. anyway, what does it amount to four hospitals? ultimately more cases means more hospital admissions for those who are sick, and that means for those who are sick, and that m ea ns fewer for those who are sick, and that means fewer beds for other types of

surgery means fewer beds for other types of surgery and operations, as we've been hearing, so it means yet more pressure on that type of activity, yet more pressure generally on hospitals. hugh, thank you very much. from the impact of covid on health care to what it's doing to the economy. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has said there are reasons for cautious optimism after new figures show record growth between july and september. the uk's economy grew by 15.5% as it came out of the first lockdown. but the economy still remains smaller than it was before the pandemic and, of course, we're in a second lockdown. here's our economics editor, faisal islam. in caerphilly, south wales, one example of how the pandemic shutdown has rebounded. a manufacturer of biodegradable stores saw demand collapse during the lockdown of restau ra nts a nd bars then adapted to manufacturing personal protective equipment and has recovered somewhat from the reopening of the economy. it was a proper interruption, like the business paused

for this period of time, and then restarted to the same trajectory it had before. the economy grew over the three summer months like never before. it has now made up about three—quarters of its record loss during the first pandemic lockdown. this is more catch—up than, as yet, an assured recovery — as the chancellor explained. what the figures today show is that the economy was recovering over the summer, but, yes, that recovery is slowing down coming into the autumn, and it's likely that has continued as a result of the health restrictions that we've had to necessarily put in place to suppress the spread of the virus. in a crisis such as this, history occurs very quickly indeed, so a record quarter of growth, the end of the technical recession, is positive and welcome. right now, it's almost certain the economy is shrinking again, and there is a further cloud in terms of the future of our trading relationship with europe.

but there's also the prospect of a big ray of sunshine — a functioning vaccine. until now, though, all the world's major economies have been hard—hit by the pandemic lockdowns — spain and the uk with the worst infection rates, also the biggest economic impact. and while all have since started to recover, that has been stronger overall in the us, france and germany, down 3—4% overall this year — compared with the uk, nearly 10% down. we're not at the right end of sort of international comparisons. if we do get a double dip, won't that be down to specific policy problems here? no, i think if you look underneath the numbers, hospitality, leisure, they comprise a larger share of our economy. that's obviously going to have an outsized impact. the pandemic‘s economic uncertainty also spreading to local authorities. croydon council declaring effective ba nkru ptcy after difficulties with property investments. the cost of covid and

the medium—term scarring effects on the economy will inevitably require broad—based tax increases. even though the government and the bank of england have already pumped billions more to supportjobs until the spring, the economy is not out of the woods. faisal islam, bbc news. an investigation by the bbc has found that staff at the safety watchdog felt they were leaned on by the government to make factually incorrect statements about protective equipment for nhs staff treating coronavirus patients. the government has been spending billions of pounds to replenish ppe stocks. 0ne company was given a contract to supply what are called isolation suits, but the firm was not given the correct safety specification. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. as coronavirus peaked in hospitals and care homes, there was a rush to buy more protective equipment. in the summer, we revealed

how the government had wasted £150 million on masks the nhs couldn't use. now we reveal more — isolation suits that hadn't passed nhs safety tests and allegations of political pressure to hide that failure. pestfix, the small family—run pest control firm, won contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to supply ppe to the nhs. the government is being taken to court to explain why it spent so much on the isolation suits from pestfix. bbc news has seen e—mails that reveal a behind—the—scenes battle for proof that the protective outfits were properly tested. the hse, the health and safety executive, in june wrote that the isolation suits shouldn't be released to the nhs because they hadn't been properly tested to the right standards. it appears the government ordered suits to be tested as if they were medical devices,

but not for the intended use is ppe. after weeks of delays, in august, the suits were eventually re—tested to a standard acceptable for use in hospitals. but it appears as the legal action heated up, so too the political pressure. "we are being drawn into the legalities," wrote one health and safety official in september, saying they'd been asked to provide a statement that pestfix‘s products had the right safety documents. "this is not factually correct," the safety regulator wrote. "documentation provided did not support the products." there was yet more political pressure — the following day, a health and safety executive official wrote, "that various colleagues in the department for health and social care were contacting inspectors asking for statements to the effect that the hse had assessed the pestfix products were compliant. " "not factually correct,"

the official wrote again. pestfix itself didn't want it known its isolation suits were not in hospitals but sitting in a warehouse, writing injune, "we do not want it to be made public knowledge that ppe from pestfix has not passed the hse inspection." in a statement, the company said, "pestfix delivered these products to the department for health and social care on time and in compliance with the dhsc‘s specification and applicable regulations." "after delivery, there was some delay while the product was re—categorised as a ppe product and further testing was carried out." the department for health and social care said, "we have been working tirelessly to deliver ppe to protect our health and social care staff throughout the pandemic, with more than 4.7 billion items delivered so far and 32 billion items ordered." "all ppe products are quality assured and only distributed if they are safe to use."

the government has been challenged on the money wasted in the rush to get ppe — the problem is, we still don't know the details of around £3 billion worth of spending because the government hasn't published the details yet. lucy manning, bbc news. a nurse has appeared in court in cheshire charged with the murders of eight babies and the attempted murders of ten others. lucy letby, who's 30, was arrested following an investigation at the countess of chester hospital. she appeared on a video link from a police station and was remanded in custody. 0ur north of england correspondent judith moritz has more. lucy letby once posed while cradling a baby for the camera. she told her local paper that she loved nursing infants, seeing them progress, and supporting their families. now she's charged with murdering babies who were in special care. sitting next to her solicitor, she appeared by video link as the charges were read out, speaking only to confirm her personal details. the nurse worked at the countess of chester hospital. the babies were all patients

in the neonatal unit. in 2017, the hospital called in the police after noticing a higher than usual number of fatalities and babies at risk of death. the names of 17 babies who were in lucy letby‘s care were read out to the court. they were all younger than one year old when, it is alleged, the nurse murdered five boys and three girls betweenjune 2015 and june 2016, and tried to murder ten babies during the same period. the families have been supported by specialist police officers since the criminal investigation began. lucy letby was first arrested in 2018, and her house and garden were searched. she was released on bail and arrested again last year. earlier this week, she was arrested for a third time before being charged. the police say their investigation has been highly complex and extremely challenging. the former nurse will appear before chester crown court tomorrow. judith moritz, bbc news, chester.

the time is 16 minutes past six. our top story this evening: as the second wave of the pandemic hits, the number of people in england waiting more than a year for hospital treatment hits a 12—year high. for hospital treatment and for hospital treatment i will be live here in belfast on and i will be live here in belfast ona and i will be live here in belfast on a huge night of international football. if northern ireland here at windsor park and scotland away in belgrade can both win their play—off finals, they will both be through to next yea r‘s finals, they will both be through to next year's euros. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... the early favourite bryson dechambeau finds it tough going in the early stages on the opening day of golf's delayed masters at augusta. it's been one of the toughest aspects of the coronavirus pandemic — the separation of elderly care home residents from their loved ones. now there is a ray of hope.

four care homes in england are taking part in a trial in which staff are trained to carry out and analyse rapid result tests — taking less than two hours. it's hoped it could pave the way for closer contact between care home residents and their visitors. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. glimpses through windows and closed doors, barriers that keep the virus out of care homes like this one in nottingham, but here they hope rapid testing could be the key to allowing more visits. at the moment, 96—year—old janet dunham can only see her family through the glass of a specially built pod. they can't touch, but it's a step forward from lockdown, which she found difficult. it feels as if you've done something wrong and you've got to be kept in prison. and you knew you hadn't. and not to be able to see

your family is dreadful. this is one of four homes trialling first tests, which could be fast tests, which could be a game—changer for visiting. in an outbuilding, kelly, one of the nurses, prepares to check if i have covid. rapid testing is being trialled on staff here at the moment, but the hope is eventually it'll be rolled out for relatives as well. rather than having to send swabs off to a laboratory, kelly's been trained to prepare the solution, then run checks on it in the machine provided. the care home staff have found the technology relatively easy to use. we've seen a very low error rate, and the specificity of the test — that's its ability to correctly identify a negative case — is 99%. so that means it gets it right in 99 cases out of every 100 tests that are done. 85 minutes after my test, i have a result. it's negative. many of the residents here have dementia, and the home believes this technology is vital to balance people's safety with their need to see family.

we've got pods at the minute, which are great — 0k, it means we're one step further on — but we're still putting people behind a barrier to see their relatives. if we could have testing whereby people could actually come in and, you know, be with somebody, obviously taking precautions as need be, i think it would be a massive step forward. hi, mum! clare brown believes her mum, helen, who has dementia, deteriorated in the weeks they were unable to visit so she wants testing available quickly. for my mum in particular, and for people like her, you know, to have access to her family who know her and love her best is like it's such an important part of her care, it can't really be ignored. the results of the trial are expected soon. it will then be for the government to decide whether rolling this out will give care home residents like helen and their families the safe contact they crave. # what will be will be #.

alison holt, bbc news, nottingham. senior ministers are downplaying reports of infighting at downing street, after the resignation of one of borisjohnson's key aides. the upheaval at the heart of government comes as ministers grapple with the pandemic and concerns over a post—brexit trade deal. and with 50 days to go until the end of the transition period, there's a warning from the irish taoiseach that the uk must "knuckle down" to agree a deal with the european union. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. borisjohnson is boris johnson is in borisjohnson is in charge because of brexit. he wants to change how we deal with the rest of the world but there has been melt down among his band of brexiteers and if there is no trade deal there could be economic turmoil too, so michael gove is warning business to be prepared agreement or not. by choosing to leave the european union we became a sovereign equal and it is important the eu recognise that.

it is rather extraordinary that only a matter of a few weeks ago you cannot tell businesses, particularly in northern ireland, how they will have to trade. there are still things that need to be resolved. this deal with set the terms for yea rs this deal with set the terms for years to come, that is so important we get it right. you have people in government fighting like rats in a sack. what impression does that give to people desperately worried that there might not be a trade deal? there is a complete focus in government and making sure we can deliver on the promise of brexit and ta ke deliver on the promise of brexit and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the european union. you say that with a straight face but the prime minister cannot even choose a chief of staff. what we do every day is ensure we are delivering on the manifesto pledges we we re delivering on the manifesto pledges we were elected on last year. but there is a shakiness to everything because there have been tremors in there. watch this, the prime minister's longest serving aide

walking out of his job. minister's longest serving aide walking out of hisjob. in part because of the new press secretary enjoying arriving at the front. the position of the most controversial adviser, dominic cummings, is perhaps now in question. is it bad for the country to have tension in downing street? just as one of the most important moments for their brexit project arrives. ten days or so left to do a trade deal with the eu. brussels chief negotiator in london talks in stalemate with any time to go. eu leaders are urging borisjohnson to budge to get a deal done, especially for dublin where the effect of a bust up would be so acute. we have all had a significant shock to our economic system because of covid—19. the last thing we need now across all of our respective economies is a second shock. many in the uk government don't believe the eu is

ready to compromise enough. in all negotiations, both sides take positions, both sides have to move. ifi positions, both sides have to move. if i could respectfully say it, the british government should head in that direction in my view. it should knuckle down and get a deal. on the 1st of january, whatever happens, the way we trade with and interact with our neighbours and the whole eu will change in some very big ways. if politicians can put aside their differences and do a deal, the transition will be significant but smooth. but if the politics fail and an agreement cannot be reached, there could be big disruption. an outline of the trade deal can be seen on outline of the trade deal can be seen on both sides, but the final act of the brexit project is not over. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. ministers in northern ireland have agreed to extend coronavirus restrictions for another week

following days of deadlock at stormont. what is going on? finally there is a deal. close contact services like hairdressers and beauty salons can reopen in a week along with unlicensed premises, and a week after that the rest of the hospitality sector will also be able to open. but it got very messy up to this point. the dup vetoed two other proposals, concerned they would have too much impact on business to have any more restrictions. meanwhile sinn fein and others wanted to remain more cautious. sinn fein voted against the knights proposals so voted against the knights proposals so yes, there is a compromise but not everybody on board so everybody has an eye on what this will mean for christmas. emma, thank you very much. the olympic boxer nicola adams and her dancing partner katya jones have been forced to pull out of strictly come dancing

after the professional dancer tested positive for coronavirus. sarah campbelljoins me now — this is quite a blow for the show. the good news is that the dancer is asymptomatic but the rules say that anyone in this situation has to withdraw from the competition so nicola adams‘ time on the door is done and she says she is devastated. they are the first same—sex couple to dance on the show, so it is disappointing on that front. the viewers know because they are told every week that there have been huge effo rts every week that there have been huge efforts to adhere to covid guidelines, and according to the executive producer today the rest of the cast is not affected. the show will continue as normal on saturday, but for them and the millions of people who watch, they will be hoping that nicola and katya will be the first and last couple that have to exit due to covid. thank you.

a controversial plan to dig a road tunnel near stonehenge has been given the go—ahead by the govenrment. highways england says the two—mile stretch will remove noise and visual distraction from the historic landmark. but campaign groups and archaeologists are worried the wiltshire landscape could be damaged. duncan kennedy is in stonehenge for us now. it's it‘s no exaggeration to say they have been talking about building a tunnel here to save stonehenge for more than 40 years. everyone agrees the a303 is noisy and polluting but while campaigners say a new tunnel will damage the archaeology of this site, the government say it is now time to act. the a303, gateway to the south—west, but rooted past the richness of this but routed past the richness of this world heritage site. for 30 years, they‘ve debated how to save stonehenge from the road‘s noise and pollution. well, now the government says the a303 is to be buried into a tunnel, creating a traffic—free landscape. english heritage say it will transform the monument. it makes good on a decades—long

ambition to remove this noisy and polluting road from this very important prehistoric landscape. the tunnel will be two miles long, and the government insists there won‘t be any major damage to the archaeology here. it‘s only when you get here on the ground that you realise just how close the stones are to the a303. it‘s just a matter of about 150 or 200 yards. and this is a road that attracts between 30,000 and 50,000 cars a day. but some campaigners have fought for years to stop a tunnel, saying it will damage the archaeology of this unique setting. the landscape to each side of the tunnel will be gouged out into deep cuttings, with dual carriageways, huge tunnel entrances, masses of concrete, major road interchanges to each side of the world heritage site. this is devastation on a major scale. there have been many promises before

to put the a303 into a tunnel, but the main work here is finally expected to start in three years‘ time. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at stonehenge. football now, and both northern ireland and scotland have the chance to qualify for next summer‘s delayed euro 2020 tournament this evening. both are one win away from a place. scotland face serbia in belgrade and northern ireland host slovakia in belfast, where our sports editor dan roan is. as you say, a huge night of international football in store tonight both in belgrade and here in belfast, whereas you say northern ireland have the opportunity to emulate the side of four years ago that reached the euros and the first major tournament for some 30 years. will it happen for them? we will find out in the coming hours. it will be the fifth time in their history that northern ireland have

made a major tournament. given that they had to switch managers this year and were drawn against giants like the netherlands and germany in the group stages, it would be some achievement. in the past they have been cheered on against the likes of england, spain and greece. they will only have 1000 fans who have been allowed into night because of the covid restrictions but maybe it could prove the difference. meanwhile over in belgrade against serbia, the weight of history will be felt even more keenly by scotland. if they can do the business in their play—off final, it will be the first time they have reached a major tournament since 1998. they will be the underdogs, but they do have some momentum. england and wales have already qualified for next year‘s euros. if northern ireland and scotland can do the same it will be the first time since the 1958 world cup that all home nations have gone through to the tournament. remember this? the 2012 celebrations to mark

the queen‘s diamond jubilee... back when crowds were allowed. well, it may be some way off but the uk has an extra holiday to look forward to injune 2022 — a four—day bank holiday weekend. it‘s all part of a plan to celebrate the queen‘s platinum jublilee marking what will be 70 years on the throne. time for a look at the weather, here‘s chris fawkes. most of us have seen some sunshine today, but through the afternoon the clouds thickened across in western areas and that is a sign of what‘s to come because it is associated with this weather system out west. this cold front will be pushing across the uk bringing all of us a speu across the uk bringing all of us a spell of rain. quite heavy rain for a time and windy too, with the strongest winds on and head of this weather front as it moves in. strongest winds on and head of this weatherfront as it moves in. 0ver recent hours the winds have been gusting into the low 40 mph already. that rain spreads overnight into

scotland, england and wales as well. the head