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You and Yours: Lawyers in hospitals; Stove pollution; Closing restaurants

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15/05/2017

Lawyers in hospitals; Stove pollution; Closing restaurants

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Lawyers in hospitals; Stove pollution; Closing restaurants

Lawyers in NHS hospitals; pollution from wood burning stoves; why restaurants are closing.

Personal injury lawyers offering advice services in NHS hospitals. How 'green' is your wood burning stove? Why restaurants are closing across the UK.

Earlier this year, You & Yours discovered that personal injury lawyers were being allowed to set up advice services in NHS hospitals, including units which treat people with head and spine injuries. They offer patients help with employment law and benefits, but they also provide advice on making claims and questions were raised about whether the NHS was, in effect, inviting lawyers to sue it. Responding to our investigation, NHS England told us the practice was "completely unacceptable" and it's now emerged that law firms will soon be banned from operating from or touting for business in NHS premises in England. Will this lead to fewer claims against the NHS? How will it affect patients who need legal advice? 

For many, a wood burning stove is a special feature of their dream home, making a room not just warm, but also wonderfully cosy. They are fashionable too, with more than a million UK homes now using either a stove or open fire. Since wood is a renewable fuel, stoves are also marketed as "green". But not everyone is convinced. Air pollution experts say they do contribute to pollution, particularly in urban areas. One You & Yours listener describes how smoke from stoves blights her neighbourhood. The industry says modern stoves are very efficient and are a good alternative to central heating. We ask, just how green are stoves?

In the last few decades, restaurants have boomed in the UK. But now, some of the big chains are closing branches. The industry blames rising food prices and staff costs, but some analysts think that too many opened in the first place. We examine the new pressures facing restaurants and how they are likely to fare in the years ahead.

Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.

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