They are the men and women who are saving and changing
the lives of people in Northern Ireland on a daily basis, and now
some of our leading surgeons are the subject of a new three-part
BBC NI documentary series - Superdocs.
Starting on BBC One NI on Monday, January 26 at 9pm, Superdocs offers
a compelling insight into the professional lives of Northern Ireland’s
top heart,
brain, breast and plastic surgeons.
Produced by DoubleBand Films for
BBC Northern
Ireland, the series also follows the remarkable stories of the patients
in the surgeons’ care and gains unlimited access to the drama
of the operating theatre, offering viewers a fascinating, no-holdsbarred
glimpse of the inner workings of the
human body.
Over three weeks, Superdocs will look at the complex areas of heart
surgery, brain surgery and reconstructive surgery and
meet the skilled surgeons who have made it their life’s work
to help patients suffering in these areas.
The series shows, in detail,
the intricacies of such operations as a triple heart bypass; replacing
a leaking aortic valve; removing a brain tumour and spinal tumour
and reconstructive surgery after breast cancer and after serious
burns.
Neuro-surgeon Jabir Nagaria features in the new three-part
documentary series Superdocs on BBC One NI
The surgeons featured in the series are resident at Belfast’s
Royal Victoria and City Hospitals which provide some of the most specialised
procedures and treatment available to patients in the NHS in Northern
Ireland. Patients requiring specialist surgery are referred to these
centres of expertise
after investigations and diagnosis in their regional hospitals.
For these patients and their families, facing surgery can be a hugely
unsettling and emotional experience, particularly when
their life is at risk from a debilitating or lifethreatening illness.
These individuals must place their trust, and indeed their lives,
in the hands of the surgeons.
The programme follows the patients and their loved ones as they prepare
themselves for their surgery, learning of their hopes and fears before
their operations; witnessing the drama in the operating theatre;
and meeting up with them after their operations to see how their
lives have changed.
Jonathan Golden, Director of Superdocs, says: “Life as a surgeon
means making difficult decisions on a daily basis, weighing up the
risks of operating on patients and carrying
out long and demanding operations. It’s certainly not a job
for the faint-hearted.”
Diarmuid Lavery, series producer, says: “Nobody welcomes the
day when serious ill-health or the need for life saving surgery
arrives on your doorstep. But somehow it seems the act of giving
oneself over to the awesome skills of our top surgeons makes the
experience so much more bearable.
“Filming with patients for over a year in Belfast’s Royal
and City hospitals, and spending many long days in the operating
theatres and on recovery wards, there was no question of how universally
high the regard was for the doctors there.”
Superdocs is a DoubleBand Films production for BBC Northern Ireland.
Superdocs, starts Monday January 26 at 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland.
Find out more about programme one...