SAVING LIVES IN CARDIFF ANNOUNCED FOR BBC TWO

Filming is underway at the Cardiff and Vale University Hospitals for a new series of Saving Lives, from Label1 (a Fremantle label), the makers of multi award-winning documentary series Hospital and Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing.

Following the critically acclaimed series Saving Lives in Leeds based at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the new series will follow the daily decisions made by clinicians, as they seek to transform the lives of their patients in South Wales, against a backdrop of mounting waiting lists.

Featuring observational filming and in-depth interviews. the programmes will reveal the full scale of clinicians’ caseloads, taking us to the heart of compelling and life affirming patient stories at the heart of the largest hospital in Wales. The series is due to air on BBC Two and BBC Wales next year.

The series explores the difficult decisions clinicians must make every day in deciding who is treated next and the real impact this has on the lives of patients and their families – and the staff who care for them. All set against the backdrop of the longest national waiting list for specialist clinical care or surgery in NHS history.

Nick Andrews, Senior Head of Commissioning, BBC Wales says: "It is terrific to have the new series of Saving Lives filmed here in Wales. A privileged glimpse into a remarkable world that without says has touched all of our lives. As if the setting isn’t compelling enough, the life changing decisions staff are having to make every single day will move you, me and audiences in Wales and across the UK."

Lorraine Chalker-Phillips, CEO and Co-Founder of Label1, says: “Gaining access to any organisation is always an honour and something we never take for granted...

"Label1 are delighted to be making the next series of Saving Lives with our team in Wales as we continue to bring heart-warming and important stories to our audiences to show what’s going on inside our hospitals and the decisions that staff have to make day in day out on who to treat next”.

Jackie Waldock, Executive Producer of Saving Lives, says: “We are delighted to bring viewers this eye-opening medical series. Filmed across the whole of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, it gives a 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.”

Suzanne Rankin, CEO of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board says: "I am extremely proud of the work that we do to support patients not just in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan but across the whole of Wales...

"Colleagues do a difficult a job every day and the past few years have been more challenging than ever, however the series will give patients and their loved ones the opportunity to see some of the difficult decisions we make daily as well as the fantastic clinical work and expertise of the multi-disciplinary teams...

"Health is always advancing and viewers will see some of the best clinical innovations but also compassionate care that we give patients, who are often at their most vulnerable and lowest ebbs.”

Series two of Saving Lives… was commissioned by Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries and Nick Andrews, Senior Head of Commissioning, BBC Wales.