File on 4 Investigates

BBC Radio 4
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File on 4 Investigates

News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Locked up: Woman held in mental health facility for 45 years

    File on 4 Investigates tells the story of Kasibba – a woman locked up as a schoolgirl in a mental health hospital. She languished there for 45 years - despite not being mentally ill. She was finally freed two years ago after the intervention of a rookie psychologist. Reporter Carolyn Atkinson asks why so many autistic people and/or those with a learning disability, including children, are still locked up and why successive governments have failed to meet their promises to move people from hospital to home. Reporter: Carolyn Atkinson Producer: Ben Robinson Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

    38 min

  2. 25 FEB

    Generation K: Kids on Ketamine

    File on 4 Investigates goes to Burnley in Lancashire to meet the young people and their families as they grapple with a ketamine epidemic. Used in human and veterinary medicine as an anaesthetic, experts say the drug is being used by increasing numbers of young people because it's cheap, easy to obtain and fashionable. But the health implications can be catastrophic - even fatal. It can cause mental health problems and irreversible bladder and kidney damage. Reporter Jane Deith hears from the Burnley vicar who has had to set up a support group for desperate parents; families whose children have experienced addiction, grooming, abuse and ill health and a young man who is being forced to undergo gruelling medical treatment for what’s known as “ketamine bladder”. Reporter: Jane Deith Producers: Jill Collins and Nicola Dowling Technical producer: Richard Hannaford Production coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

    43 min

  3. 28 JAN

    Abramovich, the Yachts and the Tax Dodge

    With the billions he made at the expense of Russian taxpayers, Roman Abramovich bought six luxury superyachts over the years. Among them were the 162-metre-long Eclipse, with swimming pools, helipads and a missile defence system - and the Pelorus - sometimes lent to Chelsea footballers. They could each cost up to one and a half million dollars just to re-fuel. If they’d been declared as being for his own personal use, VAT would have been payable on costs like that. Instead, for more than a decade, tax authorities were led to believe the superyachts were being rented out to commercial customers. Financial investigations correspondent Andy Verity working with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Guardian discovers that the firms renting the boats ultimately belonged to a trust held by - Roman Abramovich. Under the scheme devised for him, the sanctioned oligarch was hiring out his superyachts - to himself. Mr Abramovich has denied either directing or knowing of any deception. Reporter: Andy Verity Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Richard Vadon

    43 min

  4. 14 JAN

    Cannabis Kids: The parents breaking the law to help their children with epilepsy

    Tens of thousands of children and young people across the UK suffer from severe forms of epilepsy which are resistant to treatment. For those with intractable epilepsy the options for treatment are limited and the risk of a catastrophic seizure is very real. But a growing body of evidence has pointed to cannabis having a positive effect on preventing seizures even in people who don't respond to other drugs. In 2018, medicinal cannabis was legalised following a high profile campaign led by parents of children with intractable epilepsy. They hoped the change in the law would lead to the drug becoming widely available on the NHS. But more than six years later File on 4 Investigates has discovered families going to extreme lengths to access a drug they say is keeping their children alive. Reporter Alastair Fee meets families who claim they have been forced to give their children illegal cannabis sourced online and follows others who regularly break the law importing medicine from the Netherlands.

    43 min

  5. 7 JAN

    Bad Medicine: Inside the hospital trust at centre of a police investigation

    Michael Buchanan examines why the University Hospitals Sussex NHS trust, once considered one of England’s best, has now got the largest number of patients waiting over 18 months for treatment. On top of this there is a growing police investigation into allegations of poor care. Rporter: Michael Buchanan Producer: Charlotte Rowles Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Richard Vadon

    43 min
  6. The abuse survivors calling on archbishop of York to resign

    16/12/2024

    The abuse survivors calling on archbishop of York to resign

    The BBC's religion editor Aleem Maqbool hears from sexual abuse victims who say they were let down by senior church leaders for decades. Priest David Tudor was allowed to continue working within the Church of England - despite widespread concerns about his behaviour. Now there are calls for the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell to resign over his handling of the case. He is due to take temporary charge of the church in the New Year following the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The Church of England says File on 4's investigation into the case of David Tudor has 'revealed a catalogue of past safeguarding decisions, that allowed someone who was considered a risk in the 1980s to return to ministry in the 1990s.' This, they say, should never have happened. Reporter: Aleem Maqbool Producers: Steve Swann and Hayley Mortimer Technical producer: Craig Boardman Production coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

    42 min

  7. 03/12/2024

    The International Student Scandal

    Universities in the UK are facing a financial crisis, and with fears some may become bankrupt many institutions are making savings by cutting courses and staff numbers. Falling numbers of international students, who pay higher fees than their domestic counterparts, is partly to blame for the funding gap. File on 4 investigates if universities have become too reliant on overseas students, in some cases favouring the ability to pay over academic ability and overlooking the poor English language skills of some of those they enrol - even ignoring concerns over cheating. It also hears from a whistleblower about the multi-million-pound recruitment industry that feeds students from abroad into universities here – all at a cost. Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Fergus Hewison Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

    43 min

  8. 26/11/2024

    The Asylum Business

    The government has pledged to stop using hotels to house asylum seekers. But in early November nearly three hundred people were moved into a hotel in Altrincham in Greater Manchester. The decision has provoked widespread concerns from the community and there are fears that far right protestors could target the premises. It follows violent demonstrations outside hotels in Rotherham, Hull, Tamworth, Manchester, Aldershot and Bristol in the summer. Hotel accommodation is often provided in some of the UK’s poorest communities where residents are already facing difficulties in accessing vital services. So what is the government’s plan to stop the use of hotel accommodation? And when will it end? File on 4 hears from some of those who live in the hotels – and from the communities who live nearby – and discovers who’s profiting from the asylum business. Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Vicky Carter Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Editor: Carl Johnston This programme contains descriptions of graphic violence. Details of organisations offering information and support are available at: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

    43 min
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About

News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2025
  • Episodes
    448
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2025
  • Show Website
    File on 4 Investigates

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