Following surgeons as they save and change lives in Wales’s largest hospital in Cardiff, University Hospital of Wales. Here, world-leading clinicians and their teams perform incredible operations every day. But they’re doing so against the backdrop of the longest waiting times in history. This is a look at how surgeons make the difficult decisions of who gets treated next.\n\nIn the neurosurgery department, almost 200 people are waiting for complex, life-saving surgery. Consultant George Eralil prioritises 19-year-old Chelsea, who has an extremely rare brain tumour. Her operation has been cancelled once already, and with news that the tumour is growing, it must be removed now.\n\nIn the vascular department, which treats life- and limb-threatening conditions caused by diseased blood vessels, vascular surgeon Lewis Meecham arrives early on a Monday morning, ready for a full day of planned operations. But emergencies have flooded in over the weekend, forcing the team to cancel all but one of his elective surgeries.
Source: BBC 2
Series 2: 3. Worst-case Scenario
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Series 2: 2. Chance To Change A Life
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12-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 2
The University Hospital of Wales’s cardiology department serves a population of nearly 1.5 million. And it comes down to a team of just five consultant cardiac surgeons to ...
05-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 1
Following surgeons as they save and change lives in Wales’s largest hospital in Cardiff, University Hospital of Wales. Here, world-leading clinicians and their teams perfo ...
29-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 1. Unchartered Territory
On the shoulders of the surgeons and their teams as they save and change lives in Wales’s largest hospital in Cardiff. Each day, the battle resumes to make a dent in the l ...
15-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 2: 2. Chance To Change A Life
Clare Carpenter is a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon working at Noah's Ark, the only dedicated children’s hospital in Wales. One of her patients today is nine-year-old Dafy ...
16-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 2
The University Hospital of Wales’s cardiology department serves a population of nearly 1.5 million. And it comes down to a team of just five consultant cardiac surgeons to ...
05-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 1
Following surgeons as they save and change lives in Wales’s largest hospital in Cardiff, University Hospital of Wales. Here, world-leading clinicians and their teams perfo ...
29-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 5
In Cardiff, paediatric urology surgeon Selena Curkovic is determined to operate on Barney – an eight-year-old who has waited five years for surgery that could transform hi ...
26-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 4
When orthopaedic surgeon Clare Carpenter arrives at Cardiff’s Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital, the day has already been turned on its head. An influx of emergen ...
19-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 6
In the breast centre at University Hospital Llandough, health worker Michaela has been a patient for almost a decade, treated throughout that time by clinical lead Eleri Davies. ...
03-10-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: Episode 3
In Cardiff, spinal surgeon Mike McCarthy hopes today he will finally operate on 14-year-old Brody, who has scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. Mike and his team have treated B ...
12-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 3. Worst-case Scenario
After two years of waiting, 59-year-old Ceri has finally reached the top of neurosurgeon George Eralil’s patient list. She has a rare condition which frequently causes one ...
23-04-2025
BBC 2