Episode 1 Secret Life of the Hospital Bed

Hospital beds in the NHS have never been under more pressure...

It's just unrelenting at the moment.

..with more patients to care for than ever before, and only

150,000 beds to go round.

It is a fast-paced job, there's a nonstop conveyor belt.

In this series, we use special cameras on beds in four

very different hospitals...

Comfy bed.

..to see the world through the bed's eyes...

Left at the lights.

..as they share the most challenging...

Oh, it's coming again!

MOANING

No need to get upset. I will look after you, OK?

Are you OK, pet?

..most intimate...

BABY CRIES ..and most rewarding moments of our lives.

So, so happy.

Coming up today...

..in Barnsley, on A&E bed 12,

Michelle has her second stroke at the age of 42.

I just can't imagine what's happening.

In Birmingham, on day surgery bed 41,

25-year-old Sophie faces surgery to save her finger.

I was delivering leaflets and the dog just attacked my hand.

And in Leeds, on paediatric bed three,

14-year-old dancer Anna is hoping her surgery has worked.

I think they broke three bits of my bone, here and here,

so they could straighten it.

Your bed's like an extra member of staff, almost.

This is the secret life of the hospital bed.

Barnsley Hospital in South Yorkshire.

Currently, beds are tight within the hospital,

so patients are moving at the last minute.

Every year, more than 80,000 people visit its A&E department.

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Hannah, it's Amanda.

Hiya. I was just wondering if I could get a hand out here.

I'm kind of struggling, I've only got one on the shop floor.

There are 40 mobile beds in the A&E unit.

# Rolling, rolling, rolling... #

These beds are always on the go.

On average, they see six patients a day.

So, how's things with you?

-I could've walked down here.

-I know.

Bed 12 is being prepped, ready for an emergency.

A critically ill patient has just come in by ambulance.

42-year-old Michelle has had a stroke.

She needs an A&E bed urgently.

Is there any chance we could have the trolley in room eight out and

then this lady, who's in corridor D, in there?

Michelle's life could be in danger, so she takes priority.

A&E lead consultant, Doctor Griffiths,

will be assessing Michelle.

We'll get you on this trolley, Michelle, and have a look at you,

all right?

I had a stroke on the bed, right there.

It was just the most weirdest thing.

26% of strokes occur in people under the age of 65.

Michelle needs urgent treatment.

It can be fatal, depending on the size of the problem.

So, basically, part of the brain has been deprived of oxygen,

so brain cells start to die off.

Michelle's had a stroke before.

She suffered a very serious one while alone on holiday in Cyprus.

I had an aneurysm, and so it bled and bled and bled.

Because five days until they found me...

otherwise I would probably be dead.

Michelle, just tell me a little bit more about a year ago in Cyprus.

I had the aneurysm. It wasn't a clot, but the other one.

And then it took me about three weeks until I went back to here.

Right, so you were in hospital in the UK for quite a long time?

-Yes.

-Recovering?

-Yes.

-OK, and when you left hospital, when you came out,

did you...were you back to normal or did you still have some symptoms?

-No, very bad.

-OK.

-Very, very bad, yeah.

-I think, given your history and what's happened

-today, we need to get a CT scan of your head...

-Yes, yes.

..to establish exactly what's going on and I'll also have a chat to my

colleagues in the stroke team who work here and they'll come and have

-a look at you, most likely.

-OK.

-I'll be right back, I'm just going to

-organise some things, Michelle, OK?

-OK.

So, with her having history of an aneurysm before,

what we worry about is, has she had another bleed inside of her brain,

because that would need, sort of, an urgent transfer over to Sheffield

to the neurosurgical unit.

Although young to be seriously ill, Michelle remains positive.

Everybody is strong but they don't realise they are right now, because,

to them, they don't realise something terrible happened.

-I'll see you shortly, all right?

-OK.

A&E bed 12 takes Michelle for an urgent brain scan.

Later, we'll find out what damage the stroke has caused.

At Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

the day surgery unit has 81 beds,

caring for almost 5,000 patients a year.

You OK here?

I've got a couple of afternoons for you.

I've got one space.

Working 12-hour shifts, these beds are with patients before...

Right, I need to get mentally prepared for this.

..during...

You're doing very well.

..and after surgery.

Today, bed 41 is waiting to be joined by

25-year-old children's entertainer, Sophie.

-If you can pop your gown on.

-She's coming with mum, Katie,

to have reconstructive surgery on her fingertip.

Yeah, I was delivering leaflets, and as I poked the end of my finger in,

it kind of just, the dog just attacked my hand.

-To which I was just kind of like...

-SHE GASPS

"What?! Uh...ah..."

And then had to kind of rip my hand out of the dog's mouth and through

the letterbox by, like, pulling it through,

and then just going, "Argh! Mum!"

-Yes.

-There's no finger left.

Well, there is, the tip of my finger's gone.

Yeah, it was pretty scary, cos she just suddenly screamed, "Mum!"

and she was holding her hand up and the top of her finger was missing.

Mum was like, "Shall I go and get the finger, shall I get the finger,

"shall I go see if I can find your finger?"

-And I was just like, "No, A&E."

-I think the dog ate it.

-"Dog's eaten it, just go to A&E."

-THEY LAUGH

Like Sophie, more than 7,000 people needed hospital treatment last year

after being attacked by a dog.

Always looks on the positive, Sophie, full of beans and so it just

seems doubly unfair that this has happened to Soph.

-You're Sophie, aren't you?

-I am indeed.

I'm Jill Webb, nice to meet you.

-I like how you did your left hand then.

-LAUGHTER

Consultant hand surgeon Mrs Webb will be overseeing the operation.

-So you were delivering letters, were you?

-I was. I was delivering...

-And the letterbox bit you?

-Yeah, the letterbox bit back.

-SHE LAUGHS

-And it's which fingers?

-Well, the top of my middle finger's gone...

-Right, OK.

..and I've got a puncture on my ring finger.

Until we've taken the bandage off we don't actually know what

-we're going to do.

-OK.

-All right?

-The bone's exposed, they said, yeah.

Depends whether it's sticking out or whether it's just flush.

There's all sorts of things. Until we've taken the bandage off...

-Until you see, yeah.

-That's why it's hard to work out.

-Yeah. It's a guessing game until then.

-It's a guessing game.

She's getting married in October, so we just...

-If her hands could look...

-Well, at least it's my right hand.

My left hand is going to have more photos.

-There are good gels nowadays. You can...

-Yeah, stick them on.

I think it was just as much length of the finger as possible, really.

-No problem at all. See you later.

-Thank you very much. Bye.

See you later, thank you.

-It's going to hurt.

-Yeah.

Later, we will rejoin bed 41 and Sophie,

as surgeons try to save her finger.

Leeds Children's Hospital is

one of the largest paediatric hospitals in the country.

It has 26 beds in its day surgery unit.

Beds are very important in this place.

-You going to be a brave girl for Mummy today?

-No.

Everybody who needs a bed gets a bed.

You going to put injection on me?

These beds work under stressful conditions,

seeing 140 patients a week.

They're with children and their parents before and after surgery.

All done.

HE MOANS

Paediatric bed 3 is waiting for its next patient.

14-year-old Anna is having a frame removed.

Doctors hope it will have straightened the bone in her leg.

Right, you make sure you're nice and comfy.

It's one of these mattresses. It's one of the inflatables.

Parents Claire and Andy are with her.

Think I might have met you before, actually.

You do look familiar.

Sister Nuttall is on duty today.

-We're taking that frame off today, is that right?

-Mm-hmm.

-So how long's that been on for?

-Six months.

-Has it?

So have you had a problem with your leg all your life then?

-Is that why...?

-Pretty much.

-Pretty much. Have you managed OK?

-Yeah.

-And have the nurses been coming out to your home

-to do all your...?

-No, my mum does it.

-Your mum does it. Hey!

-Do you want a new job, Mum?

-LAUGHTER

That's one thing I'm looking forward to, not to doing it again.

Were you a sporty person before or anything, cos I'm sure it's probably

-limited what you can do, hasn't it?

-Dance. I dance a lot.

Not like actually in clubs, but I dance a lot.

She's lovely, absolutely.

Sort of patient I like, somebody you can have a bit of banter with.

Children adapt really, really well to just what's

thrown at them in general, I think.

And I think she's a prime example of that.

Don't be doing pirouettes, you'll be in bother.

-You'll fall over.

-Did you see that?

-Yeah. Don't.

-No, I'm sorry.

Don't. You'll be giving the nurses heebie-jeebies.

Anna has a very rare genetic disorder called acrodysostosis.

-How rare is it? 70 people in the world, I think.

-70 people worldwide.

There's one website on the internet that said that,

but I don't know if it's true or not.

It's caused abnormalities in her bones.

I'm 14, even though I don't look it.

I mean, I do wear make-up, but...

I think they broke two bits or three bits of my bone.

Here and here.

I think where these two bits are, so basically, like,

just broke it so they could straighten it, I think.

She's been in and out of hospital with various problems since she...

Before she was born, she was having her heart monitored for six weeks,

-wasn't she?

-That's new to me.

So she's just been in and out of hospital all her

life, so she just gets on with it.

And she gets over things pretty quickly, don't you?

I'm kind of excited to get it off because it's a pain,

although a part's going to be a pain as well because, like, on top of,

like, the scars that these are going to leave,

it's going to be really itchy, but I know what it's like,

so just get on with it.

-I really want to shave my legs as well, because it's not good.

-CLAIRE LAUGHS

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Ms Deriu,

will be removing the frame from Anna's leg.

-So, Anna, you know what's the plan?

-Mm-hmm.

-You go to sleep, we take everything off...

-Yep.

..we screen and make sure your bone is strong enough

and then when you wake up you will have cast braces.

Essentially it's a cast around the thigh,

a cast around the calf and then you have hinges at the knee.

You can choose a colour. We have blue, red and pink.

-Red.

-OK.

-Really? I thought you'd have gone blue.

-No. Red.

-OK.

-Now...

-Actually, no, I'm going to go pink.

-Pink.

-Pink.

-OK.

-You don't like pink.

-I know, but I'm going to go pink.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome. See you later.

We'll be returning to Anna in bed 3 later, to see if the frame has

straightened her leg bone.

At Barnsley Hospital,

A&E bed 12 is taking 42-year-old Michelle for an urgent brain scan

after having a stroke.

Last year, Michelle had a serious brain bleed.

As with a third of stroke survivors, it left her struggling to speak.

In a strange twist, after today's stroke,

her speech has improved dramatically.

Wasn't that bad, that, was it?

No, it wasn't. But the thing was, before, I couldn't understand,

well, I could understand what the doctor was saying, but I couldn't

talk back very well, and all of a sudden I can.

Michelle is heading back to A&E to await the results of the scan.

The sudden improvement in her speech has left her bewildered.

It sounds weird because a year ago, in fact yesterday,

I cannot...I cannot talk properly,

literally, I could not talk properly.

And now I can.

Michelle's sister has arrived.

-Are you family?

-This is my sister.

-Hi, I'm James.

-I'm one of the doctors.

-I can talk normally, Jeanette, normally.

Is there... Is there such a thing as a rejuvenating stroke?

-I'm not joking.

-Cos I swear...

Jeanette's been caring for Michelle for the past year.

She's been through a lot, but she's coping with it well and she seems to

be able to talk very well again, which is brilliant, and she's

concentrating on the positives rather than why she's in here,

so that's the main thing for me as well.

Lead A&E consultant Doctor Griffiths has the images from

Michelle's brain scan.

This is Michelle's CT scan, she's just come back round.

So, just looking through,

she's obviously got some changes on this left-hand side,

so I might pop round and try and catch one of the radiologists and

get a quick verbal report,

make sure there's nothing that we need to do, surgery-wise.

At the moment it's a bit...

A little bit...a little bit frightened.

Doctor Griffiths is back with the scan results.

So the CT scan that you've had this afternoon shows some scar tissue on

that left-hand side, which we knew about, but nothing new, no new clot,

-no new bleed.

-OK. Yeah. OK.

They're just juggling some beds and then we're going to get you up to

-ward 20, the stroke unit, later on this afternoon.

-OK.

-All right? Nice meeting you, take care.

-OK. Thank you.

-So, yeah, that's clear. No new bleeding, no new anything.

-OK.

It's just... It's so... It's just...

I just can't imagine what's happened.

I'm so excited. I know that sounds awful, but it's so exciting.

In Michelle's case, it appeared that her symptoms had resolved

and actually her speech and her pins and needles were better

than they had been the day before, which is a bit...a little bit odd.

-Have you got everything?

-I think I've got everything.

-Yeah?

It's time for Michelle to be transferred on A&E bed 12,

to the specialist stroke ward.

LAUGHTER

I'm very excited.

As she's had a stroke, she'll be closely monitored.

Back at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

25-year-old Sophie is on day surgery bed 41.

She's suffered a serious dog bite

and needs reconstructive surgery to save her finger.

I'm not looking forward to injections.

I'm fine, I think I'm fine with the surgery,

it's the injection beforehand that I'm like... Ooh!

Dreadful with needles.

I'm better than I was, I've had hypnotherapy and everything.

-Cos, before, I'd have probably tried to get out of the bed.

-She did.

I'm better now, though, honestly, I won't run off today.

-Give us a kiss.

-Bye.

-You'll be fine.

-Just be in the waiting room.

-I'm going to be awake.

Sophie heads to theatre on bed 41.

See you, Mum.

She's now on her own.

Wasn't very nice, seeing her wheeled off.

Yeah. Nervous.

Each year, the hospital carries out over 3,000 hand trauma operations.

Today the surgical team will attempt to save Sophie's finger.

Yeah, let's get this bandage off.

That's nothing to be worried about.

We've had quite a horrible six months,

so it's just extra emotional for us.

Six months ago, Sophie's partner was involved in a really bad car

accident, and we had a phone call early hours of the morning,

we had to come to the QE. Having seen the pictures of the car,

we didn't think he was going to be alive, but thankfully he was.

And then, three weeks after, Jay, Sophie's younger brother...

SHE WEEPS

..my youngest son...

..was killed in a motorbike accident,

and we had to go to Russells Hall

to see him there after the accident,

so both hospitals, really, are quite...

bad memories for us.

And so, obviously, Sophie being here now is, sort of, extra traumatic,

perhaps because of what's gone before.

And perhaps why I wasn't very good when it happened

and she was a lot calmer.

We'll be back with day surgery bed 41 and Sophie later.

Coming up in The Secret Life of the Hospital Bed...

In Barnsley, on resus bed two,

76-year-old Molly struggles for breath.

It's breathing. That's what it is.

On A&E bed 12,

it's an infection that boxing trainer Fred's having to fight.

-Your modelling days are over, Fred, I'm afraid.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah, I'm sorry. Sorry to break that to you.

-LAUGHTER

And in Birmingham, on day surgery bed 41,

doctors battle to save Sophie's finger.

Sophie, we're just going to have a look at your wounds now.

At Barnsley Hospital,

the A&E department is stretched to the limit.

Ready? One, two, three.

Staff are on high alert,

as there's a patient coming in who's feared to have a life-threatening

condition: sepsis.

The resuscitation department

is reserved for the most seriously ill patients.

From people who've had bad accidents...

..to those struggling to breathe.

You're quite safe.

There are five specialist beds here, surrounded by life-saving equipment.

Resus bed two is prepped and on standby

for its next critical patient.

76-year-old widow, Molly, has been admitted with suspected sepsis,

a potentially deadly condition.

Dr Staunton is treating her.

Sepsis can be life-threatening if it's not treated early enough and we

aim to get all of our initial investigations and treatments in

within the first hour of seeing the patient.

Molly's the mother of two boys, and eldest son, Andrew,

-has brought her in today.

-It's one of those things,

I mean, this morning I actually set off to work and got so far in

and decided to turn round because I

knew the situation wasn't getting any better.

And if I'd have gone to work and come home and something had have

happened and I wasn't there, I

couldn't have lived with myself, really.

So, it's just a case of, you've got to get your priorities right.

Work's important, but your lifestyle at home is obviously more important,

isn't it?

As well as working full-time, Andrew is his mum's primary carer.

At the moment, I'm living at my mum's house.

My dad passed away ten years ago.

I've been with my partner now for five years.

She's got her own house, so I'm in between both, you know.

Obviously you can't leave your mum when she's like this.

She's looked after you all, all her life.

Sepsis causes tens of thousands of deaths every year.

It happens when the body's immune system goes into overdrive

as it tries to fight infection.

We're going to pop a cannula in you,

because we're going to give you some antibiotics into your veins and try

and make you better.

Within minutes of being on resus bed two, Dr Staunton attaches Molly to a

drip with the potentially life-saving treatment.

Going to give you some antibiotics to start with, all right?

They can't afford to wait for test results to confirm if it's sepsis.

We're getting a chest X-ray organised at the moment.

It is worrying, because every time she gets an infection like this,

you just don't know whether it's going to turn into pneumonia or

anything, so you've got to act pretty quickly, really.

But she's...my mum's that stubborn,

you know, she's one of the old school, let's say.

She didn't want to come in today, but the doctor said, you know,

"You're going to have to go in."

-So we had to fetch you, didn't we?

-Yeah.

It's breathing. That's what it is.

It is, it's hard isn't it, for you?

SHE COUGHS

It's your parent, at the end of the day.

The tides have turned now, it's now our time to look after our parents.

They've been good to us all their lives,

so, you know, you've got to pay the favour back.

She's only six stone, she's nothing to fight it.

Later, we'll come back to resus bed 2 to see if the

life-saving antibiotics have worked in time for Molly.

Back at Leeds Children's Hospital, in the day surgery unit,

14-year-old Anna needs to leave bed 3.

Do you want to take that?

It's time for her operation.

Is that all right? Is it on this floor?

For the last six months,

she's been wearing a frame in an attempt to straighten her leg bone.

It's fabulous what they can do.

Today, it will be removed.

Anna gets onto surgical bed 6.

To start with, it's just the giggling gas.

Mum, Claire, will stay with her

until she's put under general anaesthetic.

Are you going to tell us when you're asleep, yeah?

The operation will take around an hour.

She's asleep. Give her a big kiss, we'll look after her.

Sweetheart.

It's horrible when they have an anaesthetic,

because it's out of your control.

So I'm just really nervous until she comes back.

She's a little fighter, really.

Everybody who meets her sort of says that.

She just assesses it,

gets her head round it and just gets up and gets on with it, really.

Surgeon, Ms Deriu, starts the process of removing the pins.

It's like Meccano.

You have to assemble all sorts of small pieces.

So now we're removing the pins and then the next thing is,

we want to check if, by moving the rings, the bone is strong.

Anna's leg is X-rayed

to see if it has healed and straightened as planned.

OK, can X-ray come in, please?

Shot, please.

OK, so all this area is the new bone.

OK, and it seems quite solid.

OK, so I'm really happy, so we'll take everything off.

Thank you.

From the orthopaedic point of view now, she has straight legs.

So both the knees are in very good shape.

I'm really pleased, because the new bone is nice and strong.

So it's a good day today, because, you know, the frame is off,

the bone is looking good and now she can finally start going back to do

all the things that she likes.

The operation is complete.

Bed 6 returns Anna to paediatric bed 3.

Right, Anna,

we're just lining your bed and the trolley up together, darling.

She's reunited with her parents.

There's no rush, sweetheart. Go nice and steady.

-Wow!

-Good girl.

-Fantastic, how's that?

-You all right, sweetheart?

-I don't know. Let me sleep.

It's so nice, the relief on the parent's face as soon as they see

their child awake, even if they are a bit grumpy in recovery,

it's such a nice feeling.

Oh, sweetheart. I love you.

After 11 hours in hospital, Anna has finally recovered from the

anaesthetic and is given the all clear to go home.

-There you go.

-Yay! Free.

Been a long day, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

-But it's good to have that frame off, isn't it?

Yeah. I suppose it's one step closer to having it completely off.

-Yeah. One step closer to being back to normal, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Paediatric day surgery is now closed for the night.

Bed 3 is prepped, ready for its next patient in the morning.

Back at Barnsley Hospital's A&E Department,

resus bed 2 is with 76-year-old Molly and her son Andrew.

She's being treated for the life-threatening condition sepsis,

but Dr Staunton is called as Molly is still struggling for breath.

So you've been feeling short of breath, have you had a cough?

Oh, yeah...it's coming all the time.

What have you...? OK.

SHE COUGHS

So, just to understand, it's...you're more short of breath,

cough, bringing up more phlegm.

It is possible as well that you've got an infection in your chest.

Dr Staunton is concerned that

Molly's infection could be pneumonia.

It's the sixth biggest cause of death in the UK,

killing nearly 30,000 people a year.

This does sting a little bit, I'm afraid.

A quick diagnosis is needed so that treatment can begin immediately.

So, it's just a quick chest X-ray.

Doctors prefer not to move seriously ill patients.

So Molly gets to stay where she is

as a state-of-the-art X-ray machine is brought to resus bed 2.

And breathe away. That's lovely, we're all finished now.

-I'll get that...

-Oh, is that it?

-That were quick.

-Yeah, nice and speedy these.

The results are in. It's not good news.

So, yeah, if you have a look at this here, that's the main airway.

And those white dotty bits down here, that is what we call

consolidation, so that's a sign of infection,

so this means she has got pneumonia on her chest X-ray.

Are you warm enough, or do you want this cardigan round your shoulders?

So, we've had a look at your chest X-ray.

-Yeah.

-And it looks like you've got a pneumonia, which is basically...

-I've got pneumonia?

-You've got pneumonia.

Just from hearing what she said and listening to her chest,

I was very convinced that it was a pneumonia.

Pneumonia is a very wide range of severity.

So we see some people who'll come in with pneumonia,

maybe people in their 20s or 30s who we just need to give tablet

antibiotics to and send home.

Unfortunately it can range through to the very, very severe and we do

see, unfortunately, people die from pneumonia.

I'm a bit surprised, like, you just think it's a chest infection.

Well, it is, isn't it, a chest infection.

Little bit worse than you think.

Must get better. Must get better.

Mum, what did they say?

Bit of pneumonia?

Just said I've got pneumonia, it's come up on the X-ray.

-On the chest X-ray?

-Yeah.

Fortunately for Molly, the prognosis is good.

We use a scoring system to determine how serious it is and we use that

scoring system in our assessment of what the patient in front of us

looks like, to see how serious it is.

-What are you doing there?

-I don't know.

-Something's coming out here.

-You've pulled it off.

-You're wrecking the joint.

-I didn't pull it off at all.

Hopefully though, she'll come in at a score of a one or a two which is

a kind of mild-to-moderate, and hopefully with a couple of days of

intensive treatment and intravenous antibiotics,

we'll be able to get her turned around and our aim will be to get

her home in a few days' time and back to exactly how she was before.

We'll admit you to hospital.

We'll get you a bed booked on the ward and if there's anything else

you need, just give me a shout.

Molly and resus bed 2 will separate, as she will need to be

admitted to a ward for further treatment.

You might be waiting a while for a bed, I'm afraid.

-Nice to meet you.

-Cheers.

My mum's 76 years old.

You kind of...your family's your everything.

You know, if... I mean, we are a close family, but if you haven't got

that, you haven't got nothing.

And she finds it hard to accept help now.

But, you know, she's got to have it really, hasn't she?

The pressure has started to ease at Barnsley Hospital's A&E Department.

Is she all right, Maria, is she still bleeding?

She can go home, can't she?

Lead consultant, Dr Griffiths

is prepping bed 12 for its next patient.

Ah, very good, you've come with your own entourage.

Come and pop into this one, Mr Gommerson.

Around 7,500 people come here each year after suffering a fall.

My name's James, I'm one of the doctors.

If you want to just carefully perch yourself up on there.

84-year-old boxing coach, Fred, is one of them.

He tripped over a concrete step at the weekend.

His wound isn't healing and it could be infected.

You want to come and have a seat? Are you family members?

-Yeah, I'm his wife.

-Rightio.

He's here with his wife of 50 years, Barbara,

and their daughter Beverley.

So you've been sent up from your GP, is that right, Mr Gommerson?

-Yeah, that's it.

-Let's just see what they've written about you.

Injured your left upper arm and it happened...

-How long ago did it happen?

-Last Saturday.

-Saturday morning.

I've got to be out for Sunday, I've a lad boxing on Sunday.

Oh, right, OK. So you coach boxing, do you?

-Yeah.

-Which boxing club is it?

-Hard And Fast.

-My nephews box with Mickey's club in Wath.

-Wath, I know Mickey.

-Yeah.

-Have you ever been in, watching?

-Yeah, I go and watch them.

-You like it?

-Yeah...yeah.

-LAUGHTER

I'm there to support, I can't say I enjoy it that much.

Oh, get away with you.

Wouldn't come to hospital

because he'd got one of the lads boxing that day.

But he's been running the gym for 50 years, yeah.

Going on, yeah.

We've been married now... 60, is it 60?

No, about 55, 56 years.

Somewhere roundabout that region.

Mind you, you only get seven years for murder.

No, happiest days of my life, honestly.

I've been well looked after.

I've been off to South Africa, Russia, Germany, France,

and she's waved me goodbye every time, you know.

For a woman to put up with that, takes a lot of doing.

So, just down here, going to check your pulse.

-That's good.

-Have I got one?

Yeah, definitely. Squeeze my fingers.

Pull me towards you.

Push me away.

OK, that's fantastic.

Quite nasty, isn't it?

It weren't good.

So what we shall do is, I'm going to go and grab a swab,

and we'll swab it and send that to the lab

just to see if there are any bugs.

Because you've lost all this area of skin, we won't be able to close it,

so what we'll do is we'll put, like, a dressing across there

-and it's going to heal from the base up.

-Yeah.

So it's going to take a bit longer and you're not going to have a nice,

neat scar. So your modelling days are over, Fred, I'm afraid.

-LAUGHTER

-Are you sure?

-Yeah, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to break that to you.

Fred has bad eczema and it's affecting the healing process.

It could cause a serious infection.

A swab is taken by Dr Griffiths to be sent for testing.

I've had a brilliant life.

We've had us ups and downs. You get enough rest, love,

when you get in one of them boxes,

you know them square boxes when they put the lid down and screw you?

I don't want that yet.

I'm not ready yet.

We'll return to A&E bed 12 and Fred later

to see if he's well enough to go home.

Back in Birmingham, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

surgeons have been working for over an hour to try and save Sophie's

finger, after a vicious dog attack.

There was very little nail left,

so we decided that the best thing to do would be to just shorten the

bone down so you end up with a nice stump on the end of the finger.

Operation complete, bed 41 takes Sophie back to the ward.

Mum Katie is waiting.

-Do you like my purple sleeve?

-I like your purple sleeve.

I was like, "Oh, it's purple!"

Surgeon, Mr Stone, visits Sophie to reveal the outcome of the operation.

-How do you do?

-Fine, how are you feeling?

All right, it's like my arm's completely dead.

Completely dead. Good, that's good, so you don't feel any pain at all?

No, no pain. How short down?

So it's probably about, let me show you on your other fingers.

It's this finger here. So it's sort of in the middle

-between that bit here and the end of the finger.

-OK.

And we've covered it with as much tissue,

-so the bone's no longer exposed.

-That's fine.

-All right?

Yeah.

We get a lot of these type of injuries,

so they're very common, unfortunately.

But usually these are very good in terms of outcome, functionally.

It shouldn't cause any problems at all.

It'll just heal over and be a little stump.

We can do stick-ons. Stick-on nails, it'll be fine.

Glue it to my skin.

Right, OK.

She definitely covers what she's feeling with a show of,

"Everything's all right," and...

If she sees one of us are upset, she's sort of extra, "No, I'm OK,

"I'm going to look after everybody else." So, yeah.

She does it...she's quite private when she's upset, Sophie.

She doesn't like to do it in front of people.

I'm not going to lie, when they were pulling...

I was like, "Bye-bye, fingernail."

Aww. You're very brave.

I know. I'm a brave, big little girl.

-You are brave, piglet.

-But I'm a piggy down.

It makes the day a lot easier when you've got a patient that

actually is friendly and happy to be here, as much as they can be.

Because at the end of the day, we're all here and we're all just

trying to make the best of it and enjoy it.

So when they're easy-going and friendly and laughing,

it makes the day go quicker.

With Sophie discharged,

bed 41 and Nurse Sears prepare for their next patient.

Not whining!

THEY LAUGH

Back at Barnsley Hospital's A&E,

bed 12 is with 84-year-old boxing coach, Fred.

He's got a week-old wound that isn't healing and may be infected.

I've been all over the world with boxing. I'm still coaching.

I'm only 84, aren't I?

I mean, still plenty of time yet.

I hope.

I want to try and make 100, if I can.

I'll probably walk out of here and drop dead.

HE LAUGHS

Nurse Dobson has been tasked with cleaning his wound.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

-You don't hurt, do you?

-A little bit.

-LAUGHTER

Can I have a look at it?

Just so I know what to get, that's all.

-Mess, isn't it?

-It is, what you done?

-He's fallen up steps.

-She pushed me over.

-Oh, I didn't push him!

I must have caught my foot on the bottom step.

Had some flags stood up and I scraped all down.

Fred was one of thousands who worked in the Yorkshire coalmines.

I used to be a bricklayer down the pit.

Your dad would never let you go down.

But I had about ten years down there.

I was always told to avoid it and keep away from the pit,

which I did.

And then he met me and became a miner.

-Then I became an old-age pensioner.

-LAUGHTER

I wouldn't want to go back down again, but the comradeship

that you've got down the mine and your friends, you worked with them,

you went out with them on a night.

A very close-knit community.

And that has gone from our village now. I miss that very much.

Really do.

-Just going to do your blood pressure, all right?

-Yeah.

What's my blood pressure like?

123/73.

-Is that all right?

-Spot on.

-Is it?

-It is. Any pain?

Antibiotics are given to stop the infection spreading.

After an hour with A&E bed 12...

Thanks a lot, love. You've been a darlin'.

..it's time for Fred to leave.

I'm going to get a pork pie, and away we go home.

Lovely.

A&E bed 12 is prepped, ready for its next patient.

Our hospital beds have given us intimate access

to the work of the NHS.

Sophie has to wait for four months

to find out if she can get a prosthetic finger.

Michelle's now at home, recovering from her stroke.

I'm very excited.

And Fred's wound is healing well. He's back at the boxing club.

The beds are back on their wards,

ready and waiting for their next round of patients.