Today - 03/12/2009

Presented by James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Nurses and pharmacists are helping to prevent the serious consequences of mis-prescribing by doctors. According to research published today, nearly one in ten prescriptions written by hospital doctors contained errors, and two per cent were potentially lethal. Professor Peter Rubin, chair of the General Medical Council (GMC) and professor of therapeutics at the University of Nottingham, discusses the findings. City bankers are nervously watching events in Brussels in the wake of comments made by France's President Sarkozy. The president warned that the appointment of the Frenchman Michel Barnier as the EU's new internal markets commissioner would rein in the 'free-wheeling Anglo-Saxon model' of banking. Europe business correspondent Nigel Cassidy reports on the financial disputes between France and the UK. Eight local authorities in England have been deemed inadequate in their provision of adult care services by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Southwark Council in London, which has dropped from 'excellent', has dismissed the results of an inspection as both 'flawed' and 'inaccurate'. Home affairs editor Mark Easton outlines the inspection results, and Annie Shepherd, chief executive of Southwark Council, comments on her service's downgrading. An exhibition tackling climate change is on display at the Royal Academy in London. Artists including Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley and Keith Tyson have contributed to the event, which shows how artists are tackling the topic of global warming. Arts correspondent David Sillito visited the exhibition. The government is set to announce a new centrally-funded nuclear research facility, designed to help British firms get contracts for work on the new generation of nuclear power stations. Business secretary Lord Mandelson discusses the plans. Goldman Sachs bankers have been buying handguns to defend themselves against any populist uprising. Journalist Alice Schroeder of Bloomberg News broke the story. Thought for the Day with Lord Harries of Pentregarth, Gresham Professor of Divinity. As many as 300,000 children could be living as slaves in Haiti. Under the restavek system, parents who sell their children are told that they will be educated and looked after well in return for doing chores. But for many children the reality is very different. Correspondent Mike Thomson reports from Haiti. A comprehensive account of adult care services by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is published today. The CQC identified eight councils where services are in urgent need of improvement - Poole, Cornwall, Solihull, Surrey, South Tyneside, Southwark, Peterborough and Bromley. With an increase in the number of elderly people in care homes, or receiving care at home, the quality of social care is urgent. 'Pamela', who is campaigning for better standards in care reflects on her experiences, and Baroness Young, chair of the CQC, discusses the report. Directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland have threatened to resign en masse if they are stopped from paying out 1.5 billion pounds in bonuses. They say the bonuses are essential to maintain the bank's competitiveness. Business editor Robert Peston outlines the bankers' position and Vince Cable, Treasury spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, examines the bonus culture. Tiger Woods has released an enigmatic statement in reaction to his car crash, arousing further suspicion and confusion. Mr Woods announced that he was not perfect, and has not been true to his values, without explaining what exactly he was referring to. Ed Smith, former captain of Middlesex County Cricket Club and sports columnist for The Times, comments on a sportsman's ability to stay calm under pressure. 'I want the world to see the victory of the European model, which has nothing to do with the excesses of financial capitalism.' President Sarkozy's comment on the appointment of Frenchman Michel Barnier to the role of EU internal market commissioner has worried many people in the City. David Buik of BGC Partners and Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, debate how much financial supervision the EU has over the City. Twenty-five years ago today the central Indian city of Bhopal awoke to the horror of the world's worst industrial disaster. Forty tonnes of a deadly gas had leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant, killing more than 8,000 people living in the poor and densely-populated neighbourhoods nearby. Correspondent Allan Little reports from Bhopal and investigates how people are still trying to cope with the damage. How have British troops in Afghanistan reacted to the announcement of a US troop surge? Security correspondent Frank Gardner spoke to General Nick Carter, the British commander in charge of the south of the country. Should drug companies carry out their own clinical trials? The writer and doctor Ben Goldcacre argues that the practice is scandalous and that doctors are re