Hospital
2017–2022 · BBC Two · 60 min · 7 seasons
S07E06 · Episode 6
Wed, 16 June, 6:00 am
After a year on hold, Plastic Surgery can finally tackle its backlog. But with NHS restoration funding unclear, difficult decisions must be made over the investment in robotic surgery.
About
Filmed over six weeks during the past three months, Hospital is the story of the NHS in unprecedented times.
Edited and broadcast within weeks of filming, this timely six part series for BBC Two will capture the day-to-day realities facing the NHS right now.
With exceptional access to one of the UK's biggest and busiest NHS Trusts, Hospital will bring audiences intensely close to the issues and challenges that continually dominate the headlines.
Each episode will show with exceptional candour the ever-increasing demands on the NHS's services, from intricate and morally complex medical ethics to health tourism; from A&E overcrowding to cancelled operations.
Shown from multiple perspectives and for the first time, the audience will see the extraordinary dilemmas and decision-making which happen every day for the consultants, surgeons and bed managers, all of which have profound consequences for patients and treatments.
Crews shot across five hospitals in Imperial College Healthcare Trust London to understand the complex decision making and the impact each one can have, following the key decision makers as they attempt to care for nearly 20,000 people every week. But standing in their way are limited resources, an increasing number of emergency patients and a clock that never stops ticking. Produced in partnership with The Open University.
Episodes
- E01
Episode 1
Wed, 12 May· 60 minUniversity Hospital Coventry fights to restore services, but with their critical care unit at capacity, a decision is taken to ration intensive care beds for major operations.
- E02
Episode 2
Wed, 19 May· 60 minUniversity Hospital Coventry's gynaecological oncology department deals with rising referrals, a growing backlog and complex cases as the hospital's theatre capacity attempts to return to normal.
- E03
Episode 3
Wed, 26 May· 60 minWith a UK lockdown baby boom, this episode follows University Hospital Coventry's maternity and specialist research unit as it deals with the more complex and high-risk pregnancies.
- E04
Episode 4
Wed, 2 June· 60 minAt Coventry's University Hospital, Critical Care is at full capacity, and two neurosurgeons must find a solution to treat both of their patients with only one bed available.
- E05
Episode 5
Wed, 9 June· 60 minAs lockdown beings to ease, the Emergency Department at University Hospital, Coventry is experiencing a 30% increase in patients presenting with mental health concerns.
- E06
Episode 6
Wed, 16 June· 60 minAfter a year on hold, Plastic Surgery can finally tackle its backlog. But with NHS restoration funding unclear, difficult decisions must be made over the investment in robotic surgery.
- Special
Road to Recovery
Fri, 25 Mar· 60 minIn March 2020, as the country entered lockdown, Hospital revealed the frontline of medicine at the Royal Free London. Now, two years on, we revisit the Trust as it implements its recovery programme and does its part to tackle the longest waiting lists in the NHS's history. Filmed during the winter of 2022, we follow the emotional journeys of the patients starting to receive their long-awaited surgeries and the staff who treat them as the Trust grapples with the challenge of recovering from the impact of the last two years.
Cast
Miranda Raison
Narrator