Saving Lives in Cardiff
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is the focus of BBC’s six-part documentary series Saving Lives in Cardiff — and the first episode will air on Tuesday, 20 August.
Produced by Label1 for BBC One Wales and BBC Two, 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 was granted exclusive access to all three hospitals and follows incredible world-leading surgeons and their teams as they seek to transform the lives of their patients against the backdrop of the longest waiting times in history.
Over six one-hour episodes, Saving Lives in Cardiff will show the public 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.
Each surgeon offers a rare glimpse into their remarkable and challenging day-to-day lives as they operate on rare brain tumours, provide life-saving treatment to a 12-week-old triplet, give a mum with incurable cancer more time with her family, and restore the eyesight of an attack victim.
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.”