File on 4 BBC Radio 4

There are two compensation schemes for veterans who’ve suffered injury or illness as a result of service - the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme - or AFCS - and the War Pension Scheme. The schemes are managed by Veterans UK which is an organisation run by the Ministry of Defence.
But veterans have long criticised both schemes. Some say they reject claims unfairly, and are slow to resolve them. File on 4 has been told in some cases it’s taken almost 12 years for a final decision to be made. How does the system work? And what is the impact on veterans who claim they have to fight for financial compensation for conditions they say are a result of their service? File on 4 hears from one ex-servicemen whose claim took over seven years to resolve, and from the family of another former soldier who took his life after his claim for PTSD was repeatedly turned down.
If you are affected by anything in this programme, details of organisations offering support with mental health and self-harm, or feelings of despair, are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Producer: Vicky Carter
Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam
Technical producer: Richard Hannaford
Production co-ordinator: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover
Editor: Carl Johnston

In the headlines about NHS waiting lists, children don’t often get a mention. Yet hundreds of thousands are waiting to start hospital for treatment.
Jane Deith investigates the reasons for the gap between adult and paediatric surgery. She hears from children whose conditions are deteriorating, some of whom could be left inoperable if they aren’t operated on soon.

NHS leaders admit long waits can have life-long consequences for young people’s development and say hospitals are working hard to tackle the backlog. But surgeons and doctors warn that in the race to cut waiting lists, children risk being left behind.
Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Alys Harte
Technical producer: Craig Boardman
Production co-ordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

The most senior family court judge in England has described the growing use of Deprivation of Liberty orders for vulnerable children as a 'crisis.' File on 4 hears from young people who were held under the order supposedly for their own safety. But they say they were under constant supervision, denied access to their phones and the internet and kept away from their families. Some say they were subjected to physical restraints and even supervised when they were having a shower. And one teenager who was on a Deprivation of Liberty order tells the programme he preferred being in prison.
Reporter: Ashley John-Baptiste
Producer: Phil Marzouk
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production coordinator: Ellie Dover
Editor: Carl Johnston

There are some two million people with long Covid in the UK - and most of them - around one and a half million - have symptoms that interfere with day to day activities. Fatigue, breathlessness, heart palpitations and severe dizziness are just some of the conditions people experience.
Currently there’s no test for long covid and it could be years before we know for sure how best to treat the condition. This struggle to get help is leaving some very unwell people desperate - and willing to try anything to get better. There are treatments to wash your blood, high pressure oxygen chambers normally used by deep sea divers. A rainbow of supplements. All with varying degrees of evidence. And perhaps most strongly dividing opinion - programmes that claim to retrain long Covid patients' brains to stop their symptoms. They say they can help people recover from illness by rewiring the brain using techniques to influence physical changes in the body. Rachel Schraer - the BBC's health and disinformation correspondent - hears from people with long Covid who say the programmes didn't work and in some cases made them feel worse. Others say they fully recovered.

Reporter: Rachel Schraer
Producer: Paul Grant
Technical producers: Cameron Ward and Nicky Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

Manchester City are dominating English football, with a trophy cabinet full of silverware. The club’s success has been bankrolled by money from Abu Dhabi. Now Newcastle United have followed in their wake, with backing from a Saudi consortium transforming a sleeping giant of English football into perhaps the world’s richest club. But with the money comes accusations that the clubs are being used to launder the reputations of repressive regimes accused of human rights abuses, and that the cash from the two oil rich states is being used to exert political influence locally and nationally in the UK.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

Three years ago, dozens of memory sticks were discovered in a sealed box at a school for children with special educational needs. There was 500 hours of footage which showed children being held in so-called 'calming rooms.' The videos showed the children being hit and denied access to a toilet. File on 4 investigates why a subsequent police investigation and an independent inquiry didn't lead to staff being sacked. File on 4 reveals how staff who were filmed hitting, kicking, and leaving children sitting in urine have not been sacked or referred to the barring service.
Reporter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Annabel Deas
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston