A new eight-part medical documentary series Saving Lives in Leeds, made by Label1, has been commissioned by BBC Factual. It will air on BBC Two and iPlayer.
The series follows a team of elite medical professionals at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust over the course of eight episodes as they work to improve the lives of patients on the hospital’s growing waiting list.
Against the backdrop of one of the longest waiting lists in NHS history, the programme will investigate the emotional journeys of patients and the true impact on their lives and families.
Leeds General Infirmary, which has been saving lives for almost 250 years, and St. James’s University Hospital are also featured in the series, which was filmed last year with unique access across one of the largest NHS Hospital Trusts in the UK.
Each clinician’s caseload will take viewers into the heart of compelling patient stories, including operations on brain tumours, cardiac surgery on infants, life-saving liver treatment, and a high-risk double-hand transplant, all of which will be accompanied by in-depth interviews with the doctors and nurses involved.
After seven seasons of Hospital and a Covid-19 special, the production team at Label1 has extensive experience in gaining access to NHS services for documentary filmmaking purposes.
Emma Loach, Commissioning Editor, BBC Documentaries says: “Saving Lives In Leeds will bring us closer than ever before to the clinicians facing difficult dilemmas on a daily basis and show us what they need to overcome before tackling the day job of changing people’s lives.”
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says: “Saving Lives in Leeds really shines a light on the outstanding people working at Leeds Teaching Hospitals carrying out remarkable and world-leading surgery. It highlights some of the challenging decisions they make on a day-to-day basis as they work to ensure our patients get the best possible care. It’s been a really positive opportunity for us to explain the complexity behind some of the decisions we take when managing waiting lists and highlight that we always have our patients’ best interest at the heart of everything we do”.
Label1 co-founder and Exec Producer Lorraine Charker-Phillips say: “Label1 is proud to bring viewers this eye-opening new medical series with extraordinary, touching and life-affirming stories, shown through the eyes of consultants and their patients as they decide who to treat next on their waiting lists. Filmed across the whole of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, it gives unique insight into the variety of work being done across their departments, at a time when decisions around how to tackle the growing backlog have never been more important.
Saving Lives in Leeds is a 8×60 series commissioned by Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Emma Loach. It is Executive Produced for Label1 by Lorraine Charker-Phillips; Anouk Curry and Catey Sexton. The Series Editor is Helen White.