01x04 - Episode 4

[bunniefuu]

Morning! You all right?
Morning, everybody.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

This programme contains
scenes of surgery

Newcastle, home to one of the biggest
and best hospital trusts in the UK.

The staff here are unique

because of this Geordie blood
that they have.

They always meet you here
with a smile.

Do you want to do questions
or do you want to go muscles?

Definitely muscles. Muscles.
Oh, they are big ones!

Across a shift...

I'll have a satsuma. Go for it.
Whey!

..we meet the dedicated staff.

I love your dancing.

They're kind and they're caring,

they have a sense of humour
that is second to none.

I went to see the new dog.

What have you named her?
She's called Lady.

So when are you getting the tr*mp?
Exactly.

Lady and the tr*mp. Is that you?

From world-class medics
saving lives...

It's a young lady's kidney.

We'll call it Cassandra.

You can do the lift
from Dirty Dancing.

There's just bits of artery dangling
off everywhere.

..to the support teams
who make it possible...

There you go, sir. Here we go.
Well done.

We're a bunch of odd bods. We laugh
from morning, noon and night.

..committed to caring
for people like you and me.

That's the actual tumour
that we're dealing with.

..and transforming lives forever.

You just walked!

That was amazing!

Thank you very, very much.

On today's shift, we catch up
with some of the staff

working in Newcastle's
two main hospitals,

the Freemen and
the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Morning, sweetheart.
How are you? You all right?

Don't forget the coffee.

OK, we're off.

Jeremy French has risen through
the ranks over 25 years

to become
the surgical clinical director.

I give 100% to everything.

Absolutely everything.

Morning.

Pole position,
first place on the grid.

So in terms of car parking spaces,

there is a unwritten rule

that the first person in to hospital
gets the first place in the grid

and I must be in that probably
around about 95% of the time

and I do remind my colleagues
about that on occasion.

Here's Mr Wilson.

I think that's him.

So, Colin Wilson is one of my
colleagues,

and I would describe Colin
as extremely driven.

Oh, Mr Wilson, you've only got
third place on the grid, squire.

I'm sorry about that.
One of these days...

I've got pole position again, Colin.

I don't know whether
Colin's actually even got

that car parking grid space

and you know what,
he may have even thought,

"I'm not even going to try now,"
but I think he does wants it.

What do you got today?
I've got a Whipple on today.

Oh, right. Good challenge.

I relish the challenge.

So, in short, do I like losing?

No.

Over at the Royal Victoria
Infirmary's

emergency hand trauma clinic...

OK, let's go.

Hello, sir. Hiya.

..consultant plastic surgeon
Susan Stephenson is in charge today.

My day is a Monday, which I chose.

I sometimes wonder why
cos it tends to be the busiest day.

OK, and how have you injured
your finger?

Fell over. When did that happen?

Er, Friday night.
So let's have a look, then.

Just push your finger nice
and straight for me as best you can.

I would probably see, in a clinic,
hand fractures,

sporting injuries,

DIY injuries.

How have you injured your hand?
I punched a wall.

Me and my boyfriend were drunk,
and we were having a competition

who can hit the hardest and I lost.

We see lots of animal bites,
both dogs and cats

and, unfortunately,
the occasional human bite.

I feel like Anneka Rice.

This is just normal -
it's organised chaos.

We did have one a few weeks ago

who'd been using some kind
of canister that sprays cream

that exploded,

and that was one
I hadn't come across before.

And when Susan's patients
need surgery...

Right, that'll do.

It's theatre orderly Allan's job

to take them to and from
their operation.

Come on, then, hurry, Malcolm,
let's crack on.

We'll get you back.

What a life, eh? I tell you,
it doesn't get any better than this.

I've had operations before,
so I know what it's like.

I know children are scared
when they come in,

I know adults are scared
when they in,

but I keep on saying
it's my first day

and I'll do the best I can for you.

"Are you going to do it?"

"No, not me."
"Are you the doctor?"

"No. I'm much more intelligent
than that."

Oh! You all right?
Aye, just charging my phone.

Just charge your phone up.

Aye, just use the hospital
electricity, go on, aye,

PATIENT CHUCKLES

You should never let the patients
see that you're unhappy

or you're miserable.

That is a no-no.

Rocket man!

LAUGHTER

We all just laugh because whenever
you need him,

you just hear this kind of holler of
like, "Allan!"

Allan? Yes, my darling.

He's just there, you know,
immediately,

as you'd expect him to be, ready
with his wheelchair or his bed.

Back top the ward, have a nice cup
of tea and a bit of Battenberg.

Do you like Battenberg? No. OK,
we'll not bother with that, then.

I don't think
anyone's had Battenberg

since probably, I don't know, 1983,

but, in Allan's world, it obviously
features very heavily.

And it's a sweet tooth
that has landed Susan's next patient

in the hand trauma clinic.

Trapped my finger in the car door
on the way to cakes.

Seven-year-old Isobel has come in
with her mum, Helen.

She just slammed it in the car door
on a shopping trip

on the promise of cakes.

Yeah, so... We got no cakes.
So you got no cakes.

Come on, monkey.

Which hand do you normally write
with, Isobel?

With your right hand?

So with children, I probably
just try and talk to them

in the same way as I talk to
my own kids.

Argh!

Isobel, Isobel...

Often the most difficult bit
for them is

they'll come all wrapped up

and we have to actually remove
the bandage

and that can be quite scary
for them.

NURSE: You're doing good,
you're doing good. Ow, it hurts.

I know it does, darling.
Well done.

Well done, that's it. Well done.

It's OK, it's OK. Ow. Argh...

Sweetheart, I'm just going to
let you pop it down here

so I can have a look.

I'm not going to touch anything
because I know it's really sore,

but can you give your finger
a little wiggle for me?

That's pretty good.

Isobel had an injury that we see
very commonly in kids,

which we would call
a nail bed injury.

The nail had just kind of flicked
out from underneath the nail fold

and she had a little fracture,
a broken bone, underneath,

so if you leave that,
you can have problems

with the way the nail grows.

So we're going to need to do
just a little operation for you

to try and get everything back
to where it should be.

OK.

So you're going to be
fast asleep, Isobel,

so you won't know anything about it.

OK?

Off we go.

Top Of The Pops as ever.

I think that could be all
for bananas.

Sleeves rolled up.

And then if I bring it in,

try and see if you can hold it
down there for me.

Get logged in.

As the hospital's clinical director
of surgery...

Good morning, folks.

..Jeremy takes on some of the most
challenging cases.

Morning. Morning. What's the name?

Linda. Are you well, Linda?

His patient today is 61-year-old
mother of three Linda.

Stay strong. I will.

Take care.

In the past year, she has been
diagnosed with cancer

not once but twice.

So, we'll just do
you blood pressure.

Linda has already had an operation
to remove a kidney

because of cancer.

So your blood pressure's up
a little bit, but we'd expect that.

Today she needs further surgery
for a second tumour,

which is growing next
to her pancreas.

Hello. Do you remember me?
Yes, I do.

Even though I've got all the mask
on and things.

And you've met Alice before,
haven't you? Yeah. Fantastic, Linda.

I'm going to pull a chair up
here, OK?

What we're doing is
a Whipple procedure,

which essentially is taking away
the head of the pancreas

where the tumour is.

If we don't do this operation,
that cancer is going to grow

and it will shorten your life,
and surgery is the only option.

So, Linda is extremely unlucky
but also extremely lucky

because if she hadn't have had
the kidney cancer,

then the cancer I'm treating
in the duodenal wall

next to the pancreas would have
grown an awful lot bigger.

If I do have a heart attack
or something that's dreadful,

I don't want to be resuscitated
if it's going to be dreadful. OK.

I told my children and that. OK.

Well, I appreciate you saying that.
It must be a difficult thing to say.

I'll take that on board.

I think the chance
of something like that, touch wood,

I've never had it in my career,

so I think the chances are extremely
low, but we'll take that on board.

OK. We'll look after you.
Right, OK. OK. Thank you.

When you're told
you've already got cancer

and then to be told
you've got cancer somewhere else,

it's quite daunting.

It's been difficult,

it's very difficult to tell your
children that you've got cancer

and I left it quite late
before I told them,

so they were quite upset about
the fact that I'd kept it to myself

for such a long time

but it is very difficult to try
and tell your children.

I do extremely complex cases which
can have catastrophic outcomes.

Come on, then, let's get you down.

We're going to walk down here.

You start thinking about, crikey,
what would happen if it went wrong,

then you wouldn't get anywhere,
your brain wouldn't work,

so you have to have the ability
to be able to park that

and actually just get on with
the job.

But I'm never complacent

because the next complication
is always round the corner.

Chad?

Are these peaches all right?

The peaches are beautiful -

honestly, they're absolutely
magnificent.

You could sell ice to the Eskimos,
do you know that?

HE LAUGHS

At the Royal Victoria Infirmary's
emergency dental clinic...

Fantastic, we shall see you shortly.

Just have a seat where you were
before, I'll move this out your way.

..dental nurse Abbey is working
her way through

a waiting room of patients.

I love setting these up. It's one
of my favourite things to do.

I absolutely loved the dentist
when I was younger.

The main thing I can remember,
every time going,

was getting this shiny
Tom and Jerry sticker,

and that's all I wanted
when I went in.

David, please.

How are you doing? You all right?

Come on in. My name's Abbey.
I'm one of the nurses.

This is Tom. He's the dentist,
he'll be seeing you today.

How are you doing? All right.
Come and take a seat for me.

So what brings you here today?
It's my wisdom tooth. Right.

I've had problems with it
for the last three years

and it's got to a point
where I can't even open my mouth.

That's as wide has I can open it.

OK, so I'm just going to pop
my finger in. Uh-huh.

Is it sore up here? Argh, yeah.

So the job is pretty much unknown

cos we get everyone coming in
as a pain clinic

so people come in in pain.

Argh. Yeah, there we go.

So it's basically just angry people
come in and happy people go out.

You take a seat in the waiting room.
Yeah, that's fine.

As soon as we've had a good look
at the X-ray, we'll get you back in.

So I just stay in the same place?
Yes, mate. They'll not be long.

Tom's one of those dentists
that you just know,
when you're working with him,

that everything's just going to be
absolutely fine and he just knows
what he's doing - he's great.

Go on, then,
give us your best whey aye.

I'm not sure I can do it.
I'm not sure I can...

What about...?

Ha'way.

THEY LAUGH

Ha'way - that even sounded
like your accent still. Ha'way.

See, I don't think
I've got an accent.

"I don't think I've got an accent."

That makes me sound like
I'm from London.

I know.
SHE LAUGHS

He's absolutely lovely
with the patients

and then he's lovely
with you as well,

cos I think, as a nurse,
sometimes you get forgotten about
a little bit.

There's nothing obvious in terms of
tooth decay or anything like that

coming from the teeth on
the X-ray.

We can have a look at either
giving it a really good clean...

Yeah, yeah. You've had enough.

Nice deep breaths, all right.

Well done. Big, deep breath in.

Nearly done, about halfway through,
all right? You're doing great.

OK. All right, have a rest.

What would you normally be
doing today?

Nothing today, actually,
to be honest. Your chill day. Yeah.

So we've took your chill out day
and made it into a painful day.

To be honest, I'm happy coming
today. I bet.

The banter I have with the patients,
it kind of just makes your day.

That's my favourite part
of the job.

If you need a break
or anything like that throughout

to give your jaw a bit of a rest,
let us know

and we can have a nice relax.

We haven't got refreshments,
though, so don't...

LAUGHTER
Sorry.

Lots of pushing and pressure, OK?

A bit more pressure here, OK?

I'm just going to support your head.
All right.

Being a dental nurse to me just
means making someone feel better

or just making their day
just by getting them out of pain

is just so important to me.

There you go.

Would you like to keep your tooth?
Aye, go on.

THEY LAUGH

I'll get your little fairy bag.
PATIENT LAUGHS

I don't think if you asked
us, like, ten years ago,

what do you want to be
when you grow up?,

it wouldn't have been in
me top ten, I don't think.

But now that I'm doing it,

I couldn't imagine myself
doing anything else.

Right, next, colour,
what do we think?

Blue.

Right, Linda, if you don't mind
taking your top gown off

and your shoes.

Linda is on her way to theatre
to have a tumour removed

from near her pancreas.

Yeah, it's OK. All right. OK.
See you later. Thank you very much.

This is the second major operation
for cancer she has had to face

in the past year.

It's very daunting, to be honest.

I'm very nervous about it.

There are a lot of things
that may happen,

but it's just taking each stage
as it comes, to be honest,

try to cross one bridge
and then cross the next bridge.

You're off. Have you been
down here before? I have.

Here we go, guys.

Transplant Theatre.

I'm doing operation an now
on a patient,

it's a complex operation,

I've got to win that game.

Ready, steady slide.

We've got to have that real drive
and desire to win

that particular event.

Linda's cancer is hard to reach
because of its location

on the junction of several
major internal organs.

It's going to be quite a job,
but, you know,

this is what I get paid for,
this is what I enjoy.

Jeremy will have to take out
Linda's gall bladder

as well as part of her pancreas
and bowel

if the cancer is to be
completely removed.

OK, let's see what we've got here.

OK, have we done a time out?
Yes.

Done and eye check? Yes.

Oh, my God,
have you done the operation?

Dr Prentis, are you ready?

Always. Always. Always for you.

Oh, thank you, James.

Abe, can you tell me the protocol
for falling downstairs?

No. Step one, step three,
step nine.

LAUGHTER

Don't laugh at his jokes.

It just encourages me.

Theatre can be extremely serious,
and rightly so,

but there are times
when that's not the case.

Why did the crab cry? Go on.

Cos the seaweed. Aw...

I thought that was good.

It's not bad, that's not bad.

It was delivered with confidence,
that's what I like.

And it gives them an opportunity
to speak to me directly

and makes it more relaxed,

and if it's more relaxed,

then actually everyone's
performance increases

and that's what we want is
we want everyone's top performance.

OK, let's see
what we've got in here.

A bit of scar tissue down here.

The build-up of scar tissue
from Linda's previous cancer surgery

is making it more difficult
to access this tumour.

Because she has had
a kidney operation before,

in Linda's case, the dissection
field that I will be going through

to get to the pancreas is going to
contain lots of adhesions,

which can make the operation much
more challenging.

We're chiselling through
at the moment.

Careful chiselling.

Before he can start
removing the cancer,

Jeremy has to first separate Linda's
organs from the scar tissue.

So we're just mobilising
the gall bladder just here

to start off with.

This is a bit extra scar tissue
around here.

It's not normally like this.

You've got to be a little bit
careful. In there.

There you go. That's better.

Fantastico.

Nearly an hour into the procedure,

he has safely removed
the gall bladder,

but the most difficult part
of the operation still lies ahead.

You're doing absolutely brilliant,
well done.

And don't worry about any noises,
that's totally normal.

So... So far, so good.

Let's go.

Consultant plastic surgeon Susan is
on her way to the operating theatre

to repair seven-year-old
Isobel's finger.

She's fractured her finger
and damaged her nail bed

on an ill-fated shopping trip.

SO I can choose which colour I want?

Yeah, what one do you fancy?

This is the first time Isobel
is having surgery,

and she is recording the experience.

"Dear Diary, today I slammed
my finger in the car door.

"They did an X-ray on me.

"I saw all my bones.

"Then they wrapped my finger up
and I went home.

"I got a toy!"

MUM CHUCKLES

We haven't got one yet, so I think
it's more of an instruction.

I'm going to have to get her one.

You ready?

Yeah.

To repair her fingertip,

Isobel must have her fingernail
removed under general anaesthetic.

Did you have some of the giggle gas
yesterday? Yeah!

Did that got down well? Yeah.

I wish I could get this done
more often!

LAUGHTER

So if you wanna
steal a quick kiss...

Yeah. ..and we'll take her
from this point.

WHISPERING: I love you, sweetheart.

All right?

How did this little one do this?

Car door or cupboard?

So she was going to buy some cake

and she was rushing to the car

and she got her finger
trapped in the car door.

Oh. So she never got her cake.

Her cake, aw. Poor soul.

OK, so a little bit of
anaesthetic going in.

When people think plastics,

they probably think
the things that you see on TV,

like the cosmetic surgery

and making people
look very glamorous,

whereas the type of
plastic surgery that we do

is more reconstructive surgery.

So to check to see if there's
any underlying injury,

we need to take the whole nail off.

As a student,
I did a shift on the burns unit.

This was back in the day where
you could keep skin in a pot

in the fridge,
to be used another day.

Just thought, "That is the coolest
thing. That's what I want to do."

Thank you very much.

And it was really hands that then
I decided that I liked the most.

And then we can actually see
the whole of this,

it's just flicked out
from underneath as well.

Downstairs, it's a long wait

for Isabel's mum, Helen.

It's just that apprehension.

She's obviously never
been to hospital before

and never been under
general anaesthetic before,

so it's always just that

slight concern about things, yeah.

There is only one thing
that is likely

to speed up Isabel's recovery.

I've got some cake.

Um, she hasn't been able to eat
anything since last night,

so a cake will be
the first meal of the day.

She'll be pretty excited that

she's technically got
cake for breakfast.

So the nail bed itself is OK.

Susan has cleaned up
Isabel's injured nail bed

and is repositioning her fingernail.

I guess the thing for children is

you're operating on
something very small,

so you're using very tiny stitches

and it'll be one of the
smallest of the two or three sizes

that would be used when
we're repairing nail beds.

Right. And let's have the nail back,
thanks, Mara.

Mm-hmm.

So we'll just secure
the nail back in place,

just to keep that nail bed just
nicely tucked under the fold again.

So that one will actually fall off
and a new nail will grow.

Over time, she'll get a nice,
normal-looking nail

that she can paint -

because she has very beautiful
blue nail polish on, I noticed.

And she can go home...

..and hopefully get the cake that
she's now been waiting 24 hours for.

OK, Mara.

Nice weekend?

Very nice.
I went to see the new dog.

SHE GASPS
Aw!

HE LAUGHS
She's lovely, isn't she?

Oh, my God. Bring her to work,
put her in a drawer.

THEY CHUCKLE
That is so cute.

This would normally just
lift off really easily.

All stuck together.

Jeremy's trying to remove
a tumour near Linda's pancreas,

but its location - near major blood
vessels - is making it challenging.

We're dissecting quite close
to vena cava,

which is a big, well,
the biggest vein in the body.

If you made a hole in that,
you'd certainly know about it.
It'd bleed an awful lot.

In this particular case,

one of the blood vessels
to be mindful of is the vena cava,

which is the main drainage
of blood back to the heart.

We've just gotta taunt it and coax
it and try not to make a hole in it,

but we're up for it.

We're up for it.

This is one of the most hazardous
stages of the operation.

The vena cava must be freed
before Jeremy can remove the tumour.

It's just so blooming difficult,
isn't it?

Surgery is a confidence game.

You need to have that confidence
of your own ability

to achieve the case.

Round the other side, Wesley. Yep.

Nice and easy, nice and relaxed.

One has to be extremely mindful
of not being overconfident.

And just check it's
the right thing, Wesley.

Yep. You happy? Yep.

If you become overconfident,

you may take shortcuts and you
become a little bit complacent.

Don't wanna tempt fate here, Wesley,

but we've almost
got it off completely.

Mr C is there.

Jeremy finally has
sight of the cancer.

It's critical the tumour
is removed intact.

To rupture it would risk
the cancer returning.

OK, so let's divide up
the stomach first,

so we can do it duodenal-preserving.

Jeremy finally accesses the tumour.

OK.

That's good, inch by inch.

But the painstaking job
of reconstruction still lies ahead.

So I've disconnected that.

Yeah, definitely a bit more.

Stuck, isn't it?

It's always just worth
having a look inside...

Bay one. Bay one?

Fab, yeah, if we could get
Samantha in, please?

Samantha? Lovely. Yes, thank you.

At the emergency dental clinic,

Abbey's next patient is
child carer Samantha,

who has been suffering
with toothache for nearly two weeks.

It's horrendous

and it's the first real
dental trouble I've ever had.

And I've never had pain like it
in my mouth before.

So this feels a bit funny, this one.

All right? Mm-hmm.

Take a deep breath in
through your nose.

Mm-hmm. Well done. Well done.

Abbey was a patient here herself
at the Royal Victoria Infirmary

just eight years ago.

Couple more seconds, all right?

And relax.

You OK?

It's not the nicest, is it?
It's horrible.

I was about 18.

I had a real issue with food

and that just spiralled
out of control.

So I think I went to
about five stone.

I mean, if someone watched
what I eat now, they'd be like,

"There's no way she was anorexic,"
but I was.

So I got referred to the RVI.

They deal with eating disorders.

There's a lot of noise,
but don't worry, you're all right.

You'll be fine,
we'll let you know what's happening.

I were trying to get my life
back on track, pretty much.

Just wanna raise your left hand,
all right, to let me know,
as quickly as you can.

You OK?

And then it was the
occupational therapist.

She said, "Why don't we see
what else you're good at?"

And then she just said,
"You've got nice teeth."

And I was like, "Well, actually,
I always like going to the dentist.

"Why not?"

And that literally changed
every aspect of my life.

How does that feel? OK?

Doesn't feel high or anything?

I can't feel anything.
THEY CHUCKLE

That's a good thing, in a way.

No pain.

Pillowcase...

..two sheets...

..and my usual ten, ten, ten, ten
blues and greens.

And that's it, baby.

God bless you. See you soon.

Bye, darling. Bye.

This is the specimen just here.

It's there.

There's the tumour.

Jeremy has reached a turning point

in the highly complex surgery

to remove a tumour
near Linda's pancreas.

We've just done the resections,
so we've taken away

the head of the pancreas,
the duodenum,

and obviously gallbladder's gone.

There's no bleeding, which is good.

Even though the tumour
has been successfully removed,

the operation is far from over.

Now we're onto the second
stage of the operation,

which is the reconstruction.

So that's going to be
three joinings.

The most delicate of which
is the first one,

which is the pancreas to the bowel

because it's a very,
very small duct in this patient.

This is intricate work

and any tears or leaks
could have fatal consequences.

The operation is a very
fine operation.

It's going to be tricky to do.

The join of the bowel to

the pancreas, the pancreatic duct,

that's about three millimetres.

Another one, thanks.

And if this is damaged,

that's a significant event.

You have to be extremely
careful with the sutures

because the wall is so thin.

Aw, lovely.

Now Jeremy moves on
to the second join

to reconnect Linda's liver
to her bowel.

A good join...

..is blood supply, blood supply,
blood supply,

so if the blood supply is good,
the joining is going to be healthy.

In an operation,
you've really got to focus.

You have this person's life
in your hands.

Can you wet my hands again? Thanks.

Magnificent, Erin.

We're in sync.

Aw, lovely.

Last one.

That's magnificent.

It's about recognizing
those crunch times

when everybody has to up their game.

Final join now,
joining the bowel to the stomach.

It's vital this
final join goes well,

if Linda is to eat and digest
food normally after the procedure.

Pleased with this operation.

We've lost very little blood.

We're very pleased with that indeed.

Quite enjoyed it,
actually, today, guys.

I'm going to give
her daughter a call just now,

say everything's gone well.
PHONE RINGS

ON PHONE: Hello?

Victoria?

Hi. It's Jeremy French,
surgeon at the Freeman.

Everything's gone fine.

Fantastic. Thank you.

I'm glad everything went well,
so thank you for that.

OK, I'll catch up with you
later in the week, then, Victoria.

OK, thank you. Bye-bye. Bye.

When a case goes really well
in surgery, it feels good.

Fantastic. Thanks, everybody.

INDISTINCT CHATTERING
Bye!Have a good day.

It does give you a buzz.

To complete this case
in a safe fashion is a win.

It's still a bit fragile... Yeah.

..so it would be worth keeping it
covered, probably for another week.

I've brought her back for you.

We were touch and go,
but I saved her.

OK, so this stuff sets
on its own, all right?

Just be a bit careful with it.

Primary school teacher Sara
is here with toothache

that has finally got
the better of her.

It's been on and off for
about a month now.

It's got to a point where
I can't take it any more.

It's probably the worst thing
I've ever had, toothache.

Bearing in mind, I've given birth.
SARA CHUCKLES

Okeydokey. Are we anxious
of the dentist at all?

Yes.We're not that bad.
ABBEY LAUGHS

I think a lot of people
don't know about anorexia,

that it's actually
a mental disorder,

so it's not actually
anything to do with food,

but it's all about your mentality.

Ow.

We are lovely.

SARA WHISPERING: Oh, I'm shaking.

It'll be all the adrenaline
going through here.

Bless you.

Just seeing people in pain
that couldn't eat

because they couldn't
and not actually by choice

and it just kind of
rewired my brain.

I needed to make myself better

because I can't be ill
treating ill people.

You OK?

What's up? OK?

Have some deep breaths
through your nose for me.

SARA INHALES DEEPLY
Nice, steady breathing.

Well done, you're doing so well,
that's the worst bit.

OK? I don't know, I think the
worst bit's listening to us two.

THEY LAUGH
Yeah.We've got some bad crack.

Nice breathing. We'll sit you up,
have a nice drink of water.

OK?Apparently, it's the best
water in the hospital.
SARA GIGGLES

Apparently.

I can't be the one
that they depend on

to make them feel better
if I'm struggling myself.

And it just... I did,
I got out of it.

MUMBLING: That really hurts.
That's hurting?

Uh-huh. That's all right.

Take a break.

How old's your daughter?

12. 12?

So is she off to high school
in September?

She's already there.
She's there?

I am proud that I overcame something
that is hard to overcome,

but I couldn't have done it
without everybody else -

or even just doing this job.

You're doing absolutely brilliant,
well done.

Just feels weird, don't it? Ah.

Well done. Nice deep breaths,
don't forget to breathe.

Nothing worse than seeing
your patient go blue.
SARA CHUCKLES

I didn't know how
good I was with people.

There you go, it's a girl.

Ah.Job done.
ABBEY CHUCKLES

Oh, thank you. You all right?

Well done.

And if it wasn't for
being a dental nurse,

I don't know where I would be.

So it really did change my life.

Any questions?

No. You should be
really proud of yourself.

You did really well. You did
absolutely brilliant, honestly.

Right. OK, thank you.

Lovely to meet you, take care.
Thank you. Bye.

You take care of yourself. Bye-bye!

You sure you're feeling
OK, though, mate?

Yep? OK.

Hello, Dennis! Hello.

How are you?

Good to see you, are you well?

I am. All right.

Theatre orderly Allan
is halfway through his shift.

Just follow me, please,
if you don't mind.

OK? Thanks very much. Thank you.

I've got a bit of a system, really.

I introduce myself and,

"You're the next patient."

We've just been having a chat.
You're 90 years old.

I know. Doesn't look it, though.
He doesn't.

I tell them what has to be done.

Turn around, sir.

# Turn around... #

In the meantime, when they're
getting changed and that,

I talk to them. "Where're you from?

Have the girls and boys
looked after you?

Yes. Yes, very much so.

Do you keep yourself busy?

Well...

I'm not so mobile now.

Well, we know. Yeah, we know.
Yeah. Yeah.

And it just flows.

Honestly, it just flows.

He's got a nice, sporty Audi A3.

Has he? This one.

So you've got money, then?

LAUGHING: You should have said!

Allan didn't always find it
this easy to talk to people.

I hope everything goes well.

For many years,
I couldn't speak properly,

even when I came to the hospital.

The first few years I had
a stammer, you know,

and I couldn't speak properly.

When my mam died, she was only 42.

In them days, you used to put
a little veil over their heads

and then I pull the veil back
and I got a shock

and I got that much of a shock, er,

I found it hard to speak.

There you go, sir.

Here we go. Well done.

Excellent work.
Excellent. Well done.

Excellent.

How I taught myself
is I became a DJ.

And that microphone was my...

..barrier.

I would say what I had to say
and then I could say it.

Then I learned
how to speak properly.

Are you by yourself or with your...?

No, my wife's out the front now.
Your wife's out front?

You didn't leave
your wallet with her?

I taught myself how to speak again.

Take care, my friend.

Be good for her. Good... See you.

Thank you, Sister.
Thank you very much.

Thank you. See you soon.

Mm-hmm?

Yes, that'll be fine.

Susan's next patient
is first aid trainer Malcolm,

who has injured his finger

a fortnight before
his daughter's wedding.

It was a stag do.

But we didn't get down
there till, like, 8:30.

So we had a lot of
catching up to do.

So had a couple of little
cheeky pints and then, er...

It didn't go well.

So it's Malcolm? It is, yes.

So tell me what's been
happening to your hand.

I fell over on a plant pot
on a stag do. Right, OK.

To get alcohol-related injuries

is very common

over the weekend and on a Monday.

Pop your hand up on there for me.

I'm going to cut this
dressing off. OK?

What happened? What did you do?

I was maliciously pushed over
by one of my friends.

No, that's... That's a lie.
SHE LAUGHS

But, you know, everybody's human

and we're all capable of
falling over and making mistakes

and getting injured.

If you come through the door,

you get treated the same way
in our clinic.

So your thumb feels nice
and normal? Mm-hmm.

Does it feel the same
on that thick...

No. Can you feel it at all?

It's like a... Like a numbness.

So if that's... I can feel it,
but it's like...

That's ten out of ten,
what would you give that one?

Five?

Just try and bend up
at that knuckle for me.

That one there?

Yeah. Nah.

I think what you've
almost certainly done

is divided one of the nerves that
runs up that side of your finger.

The other thing we need to check,
your tendons are working,

but sometimes they can be
partly cut, so they still bend,

but the risk would be

it's like rope
that's been partly cut -

if you keep using it,
eventually it might snap,

and that's what
we need to double check.

So we'll take you along
to the operating theatre.

If it's just the nerve,

it'll be a bandage for a few weeks

until the stitches come out

and then about six months to a year

to see if the feeling's gonna
come back in that finger.

God. OK?

I was hoping to get back
to work tomorrow.

Yeah, I think that's what
a lot of people often think.

I think you're probably looking
at a couple of weeks off work -

minimum - but it may
be a lot longer,

depending on whether we find
a tendon injury or not.

Malcolm is self-employed

and time off work could have
a huge impact on his livelihood.

They come in with what looks like
a cut on their finger,

and then I'm saying to them,

"Well, actually, you could
have cut a tendon.

"That means you're potentially gonna
be off work for three months."

With his daughter's wedding
just a fortnight away,

Malcolm's in for an anxious wait.

It's a bit of a nightmare,
really, to be honest.

You know what I mean?

In terms of, like,
the ramifications of work...

..life, erm...

Yeah, pretty bad.

I'm the father of the bride,
so my daughter's furious.

So...

It's been a busy shift for the staff

working across Newcastle's
main hospitals.

Nearly done, just nice steady
breathing in through your nose.

OK, one more sharp one,
I'll just come around the back.

We're just dancing around.

Yes!Eat it sensibly, though.
MUM LAUGHS

Give us, erm... A block?

A block.

Up on plastic surgery,

Susan is about to operate on
father of the bride Malcolm's hand.

So just to double check,
that's your address,

that's your date of birth?

He is about to find out
if his stag do injury

will cost him months off work

and put him in the doghouse
with his daughter.

Yeah, I am the cautionary tale.

Men of a certain age,

don't drink sambuca - or Jagerbombs.

Or lager.

Or Aftershocks.

So... I've just remembered
them as well.

So...

Have we got plenty doctors?

I hope so. It's a hospital.

THEY LAUGH

Theatre orderly Allan will
take Malcolm to surgery.

Hi, Malcolm.

Was it a stag do
or was it a wedding?

No. What was it, then?

It was a church gathering.

Oh, a church gathering, was it?

Yeah. Yes.
And you fell down, didn't you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

NURSE LAUGHS
Was this because you had
too much church wine?

No, no. It was just holy water.

Oh, holy water. Holy water.
What about the holy water...

Was it a bit too holy for you?

It was, yes. Are you sure?

Yes, yes, yes.
ALLAN LAUGHS

Malcolm's injuries could cost him
up to three months off work.

That's the main things
we're looking for,

has he injured the nerve
and has he injured his tendons?

See you in a few minutes.
I'll leave you with this young lady.

Right. This young lady'll
take good care of you.

She's really gorgeous. Top man.

The marking there.

Malcolm will find out
the verdict very shortly

because he will be awake
throughout the operation.

Most of our patients
have their surgery done

with what we call a regional bloc -

local anaesthetic around the armpit,

which makes their whole arm go numb.

So a bit of fishing coming up.

You ready? Doing all right, buddy?

Yeah. Yep.

And you can tell they're nervous

and they've probably
never had an operation done

while they've been awake,

and they've probably never even been
inside an operating theatre before.

OK, so we're just going to give
your hand a bit of a clean, OK?

As we're doing things,

you will feel us probably move your
arm around and things like that,

but you shouldn't feel any pain.

Obviously, if you do,
you can just let us know.

The stakes are high for Malcolm.

He is self-employed and he is due
to walk his daughter down the aisle

in just two weeks' time.

We're just going to start by
having a look inside, all right?

He's complaining that
the sensations or the feeling

on one side of his finger
seems different.

OK. Someone stand by
on the tourniquet, thanks.

250.

Yep.

So you have two nerves.

One runs up
either side of the finger,

and so the risk would be that
he'd injured one of the nerves.

Intact digital nerve there.

He's not gone through.

The other thing you
always have to be very careful

with glass or ceramic-type injuries
is often it's a sharp spike

and they can go down and
they keep going till they hit bone.

So there's always the risk
that he could also

have injured the tendons.

How's it been being awake?

It's this weird sensation of...

I think probably the
reality of the situation

maybe kind of hit him then,
and he went very quiet.

Yeah, so we've got neurovascular
bundle OK on that side.

Even though his tendons are moving
and he can move the finger,

sometimes you can find
that they've been partly cut

and they would eventually
go on to snap

as you continue to use the hands.

Let's have a look at this one.

Aha, I think you
might have been lucky.

But on first look,

these tendons look to be OK.

So this tendon in the middle
is absolutely fine,

but this side of the tendon here

has just been nicked,

but you know what I was saying
before about the ropes?

So it's not enough that
we need to do anything with it.

Malcolm's worst fears
have been averted,

but only by millimetres.

So that's really good news,

so you have cut into
one of the tendons,

but not enough for us
to need to repair it. Mm-hmm.

So it'll be a bandage
for a couple of weeks
until the stitches come out.

But, you know,
you'll be back at work

sooner than we had perhaps feared.

Quite relieved.

Malcolm can now start to look
forward to his daughter's wedding.

SUSAN LAUGHS

Are you joking or
are you being serious?

No, I'm being serious.
I've just got rhythm, you know?

SUSAN LAUGHS

So who tells you
you look good dancing?

Yourself?

Basically, yeah.

I've had comments over the years,
you know, in sports bar and...

So were you dancing
on Friday night, then?

Possibly.
THEY GASP
LAUGHTER

I must admit, that's one
of the things I love about my job,

because it's the people
that make it so interesting.

Happy? Yeah, yeah. Good lad.

We'll get you in the chair.

And you wouldn't get that

if the patients were under
a general anaesthetic and asleep.

We're gonna get you back
to the ward now. OK?

Yeah. Well done.

Coming through.

I think once he probably gets
his speech out of the way

and it's almost time to get
onto the dance floor,

I think yes, definitely.

There may be a few drinks
consumed by Malcolm.

Sit in that chair, fella.

OK?

God bless you,
I hope everything goes well.

Aye... Have a good wedding.
Cheers. Good man.

Take care, fella.

All ours are done, yeah.

Fantastic.

It's nearing the end of the shift

at the Newcastle hospitals.

The joy of paperwork.

Load of notes and
a cup of tea, I think. Yeah.
ABBEY LAUGHS

Susan's doing her final
round of the day.

Hello.

How's my best patient
from today?

Great!

How is she doing, Mum?
Yeah. Really well.

And what about the cake?

Did you get any cake?

She got the cake.

Nice.

I think there's probably a tiny
bit of... Chocolate? Cake.

Chocolate on my sheets?

Chocolate and cake spilled.
A tiny bit of pen.

Well, that's all right
because you've been doing some

very beautiful colouring, so we
don't mind a tiny bit of pen.

We'll see you in a few months.
See how you're getting on.

All right? Great.
Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye!

Take care. I will!

Do you want this? Yeah.

Day in the life of a surgeon -
into hospital at seven o'clock

and back home around about six,

so yeah, it's been a good day
today.

Feeling all right? Yeah.
Bit nervous. A bit nervous.

Spinal surgery can have
very high risks.

Six five by 40 screw
this time.

But it's one operation
that could fix her for the rest

of her life.

So how long have you lived in Byker?

To work where I grew up

is kind of a bit of a privilege,
really, because I find that I'm able

to give a lot back to the people
that helped me.

Those were the days!

We're old and haggard now,
aren't we, pet?

SHE LAUGHS

About to take the tumour out.

This is the moment of truth.

The operating theatre is definitely
one of my happy places.

You're amazing. I would kiss you
if you didn't have your mask on.

My life would be great if they
let me operate all day.