Life-saving operations, difficult dilemmas. Lifting the lid on the heart-rending, hard-headed decisions surgeons must make before tackling the day job of changing people’s lives.
The first episode of the six-part documentary series Saving Lives in Cardiff will air on BBC One Wales and (and across other regions on BBC Two) on 20 August at 9pm.
Saving Lives in Cardiff was filmed over several months in 2023 across the University Hospital of Wales, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales and University Hospital Llandough.
The programme will show the difficult decisions clinicians make every day as they choose who to treat next and explore patients’ emotional journeys as they undergo life-changing operations.
Episode 1 will follow neurosurgeon George Eralil as he operates on a 19-year-old with a rare brain tumour, vascular consultant Lewis Meecham as he faces a wave of emergency cases, and thoracic surgeon Malgorzata Kornaszewska, the only specialist in Wales still performing a life-changing operation treating the chest deformity pectus excavatum. 17-year-old rugby player Rhys has been waiting for two years for the operation and Malgorzata, Rhys and his family all hope the operation he’s waited so long for will transform his life.
Saving Lives in Cardiff will air on Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC One Wales and across the other regions of the UK on BBC Two. Episodes will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
Suzanne Rankin, CEO of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said:
“I am incredibly proud of the amazing work that is done every day to care for and treat people not just in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan but across Wales. Saving Lives in Cardiff shines a light on the outstanding multi-professional teams who work across the Health Board and the remarkable and world-leading surgeries and interventions carried out every day.
“The programme will highlight the difficult challenges clinical teams face daily and the real-life impact of NHS waiting lists on those who need treatment and those who provide it. It also provides the opportunity to explain the complexities behind decision-making, which can be seen to be done with great professionalism, expertise and compassion, clearly demonstrating the values of the Health Board — showing that providing the very best patient care and treatment is always at the centre of everything we do.”
