大象传媒

A very good morning and welcome to a special edition of The Breakfast Show. We're in Eglinton, one of the main areas badly affected by Tuesday nights flooding. I'll be here all morning to reflect on what was a disastrous week for many. People are still trying to piece their lives back together here after torrential rain destroyed homes, cars, businesses and roads. Almost 100 people had to be rescued and bridges and roads collapsed across the north west.

Of course, there's another big story this morning: health - and the sweeping cuts facing the five trusts here. Between them, they've been told to cut budgets by 拢70 million. Locally, the Western Trust needs to slash 拢12.5 million from this year's budget. It means that two care homes - Rectory Field and William Street - may have to merge; the money spent on bank doctors and nurses will be cut and care packages will be limited, but the trust insists jobs are safe. Let's discuss the implications of this. John Compton is a former head of Health and Social Care Board and Joe McCusker is a regional organiser with the health workers' union Unison.