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Hospital: Preparing for surgery

Updated Wednesday, 12 July 2017
The Hospital team meet patients, staff and carers preparing for surgery, in these clips from the BBC/OU co-produced series.

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Feeling normal

Twenty-three-year-old primary school teacher Rosa has an infection on her mitral valve called endocarditis. Rosa is is an extremely complex case, as some infected tissue from her heart has broken off causing strokes in her brain. "It's the last thing you want to see in a young person, it carries a high mortality," says consultant cardiologist Susan Connolly. "It's one of the most challenging things we treat because the timing of surgery is crucial. If you don't get the timing of surgery right, the patient will die."

Prepping for brain surgery

At Charing Cross Hospital, site of the Trust's specialist neurosurgery department, 28-year-old former dancer Ben needs an operation to remove a recurrent brain tumour. "It's very frustrating treating brain tumour patients like Ben where he's had surgery and his tumour's come back," says consultant neurosurgeon Kevin O'Neill. However, as Kevin explains: "These days, as opposed to his previous surgery which was four years ago we have more tools in the box."

Ready and waiting...

Chotolal describes his condition and when he arrived at Hospital. He then finds out that he won't be able to be seen as the HAC has a severely ill patient incoming.

 

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