The advice from the NHS to cancel all non-urgent surgery is taking a heavy toll at Nottingham University Hospitals. Once busy theatres lie empty as surgeons have their operation lists decimated. Patients who may have already waited months for surgery are left not knowing whether their operations will take place any time soon.\n\n55-year-old Val is one such patient. Her entire jaw was destroyed by mouth cancer several years earlier. She cannot eat or talk. Leading maxillofacial consultant surgeon Dilip Srinivasan is due to operate on Val. He is planning to carry out groundbreaking reconstructive surgery which will aim to grow Val a new jaw inside a specially constructed frame. This surgery will transform Val's life but with the new NHS ruling in place, it cannot be deemed clinically urgent and should be cancelled. Dilip is determined to do everything he can to fight for Val's operation. He argues, 'She is someone who is suffering. And if medicine is not about treating people who are suffering, then what is it about?'\n\nOrthopaedic consultant surgeon Tony Westbrook has had most of his routine surgical list cancelled. Currently in hospital, terminally ill Peter needs a hip replacement in the hope they can reduce his pain and send him home to spend his last few months with his family. Throughout January, any non-urgent hip replacement such as Peter's should be cancelled. However, Tony believes there are exceptional circumstances and does what he can to give Peter his surgery.\n\nNine-year-old Jayson suffers from scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine. He is due to have major surgery to straighten his back which will transform his life. Paediatric surgery is supposed to be protected and is not part of the NHS ruling cancelling all non-urgent operations. However, like other paediatric intensive care units around the country, the unit at Queens Medical Centre is under severe pressure. Jayson has had his operation cancelled before due to a lack of specialist intensive care beds. As he arrives for his operation, Jayson and his mother Kerry have no idea whether or not it will go through. They wait in hospital while the decision is made.
Source: BBC 2
Road To Recovery
In 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 it ...
14-04-2022
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 6
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust is assessing the aftermath of the pandemic and its long-term impact. The Trust needs to adapt to a ‘new normal&rsq ...
28-06-2021
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 5
The Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital, Coventry has seen a 30% increase in patients presenting with mental health concerns. Under section 136 of the Mental Health ...
21-06-2021
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 4
In determining who to treat first, doctors are forced to take incredibly difficult decisions as they battle to save lives and fight for patients to have the treatment they despe ...
14-06-2021
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 3
In this powerful episode of Hospital, the lockdown ‘baby boom’ has caused births nationally to rise by 11%, meaning Coventry’s University Hospital’s mate ...
07-06-2021
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 2
The gynaecological oncology department at University Hospital Coventry, led by surgeon Smruta Shanbhag, emerges from the pandemic facing a mounting backlog of suspected cancer p ...
31-05-2021
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 1
Hospital tells the story of the NHS in unprecedented times - a year spent reacting to the pandemic, which has left nearly five million people waiting for treatment in England al ...
24-05-2021
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 6
During late summer and autumn, the Royal Free London has so far managed to remain open to all its patients and continue with planned operations, treatment and care. However, the ...
15-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 4
This episode focuses on the perpetual challenges of trying to discharge older patients as the hospital experiences a bed shortage, alongside the added complexities of Covid-19 i ...
09-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 5
Barnet Hospital, the second largest hospital in the Royal Free Trust, was hit hard by the first wave of coronavirus. The vast majority of their capacity was taken up by Covid-po ...
09-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 5
Cancer operations at Nottingham University Hospitals are under threat of being cancelled as the trust has run out of beds. As people lie on trolleys waiting to be admitted into ...
24-04-2018
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 6
During late summer and autumn, the Royal Free London has so far managed to remain open to all its patients and continue with planned operations, treatment and care. However, the ...
15-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 3
The advice from the NHS to cancel all non-urgent surgery is taking a heavy toll at Nottingham University Hospitals. Once busy theatres lie empty as surgeons have their operation ...
11-04-2018
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 5
The Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital, Coventry has seen a 30% increase in patients presenting with mental health concerns. Under section 136 of the Mental Health ...
21-06-2021
BBC 2
Road To Recovery
In 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 it ...
14-04-2022
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 3
This episode explores the impact of Covid-19 on the Royal Free Hospital’s transplant services, which treat some of the hospital’s most vulnerable patients. A special ...
25-11-2020
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 5
Barnet Hospital, the second largest hospital in the Royal Free Trust, was hit hard by the first wave of coronavirus. The vast majority of their capacity was taken up by Covid-po ...
09-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 4
This episode focuses on the perpetual challenges of trying to discharge older patients as the hospital experiences a bed shortage, alongside the added complexities of Covid-19 i ...
09-12-2020
BBC 2
Series 7: Episode 2
The gynaecological oncology department at University Hospital Coventry, led by surgeon Smruta Shanbhag, emerges from the pandemic facing a mounting backlog of suspected cancer p ...
31-05-2021
BBC 2