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Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day

Keeping Ireland Alive 2 Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive 2 Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day Copyright: Pic: Hu O'Reilly
Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day Copyright: Pic: Hu O'Reilly
Keeping Ireland Alive IA_32 Maternity - midwife Joanne Malik Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive IA_32 Maternity - midwife Joanne Malik Description: Keeping Ireland Alive - midwife Joanne Malik
Keeping Ireland Alive _17 ICU Mater - Michael O'Flynn with his wife Jackie Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive _17 ICU Mater - Michael O'Flynn with his wife Jackie Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day - Micheál Flynn with wife Jackie.
Keeping Ireland Alive 10 Eye - Sightsaving Op - Derek Hayes Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive 10 Eye - Sightsaving Op - Derek Hayes Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day - eye patient Derek Hayes.
KIA_07 Neurosurgery - Dr David O'Brien Image Name: KIA_07 Neurosurgery - Dr David O'Brien Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day - neurosurgeon Mr David O'Brien.
Keeping Ireland Alive Community Choir - Tommy McCormack Image Name: Keeping Ireland Alive Community Choir - Tommy McCormack Description: Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day - Tommy McCormack

Episode 1 of 5, Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day, RTÉ One, Monday, August 29th at 9.35pm 

In the first episode of Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day:

At Beaumont Hospital, consultant neurosurgeon Mr David O’Brien prepares to carry out a major surgery to remove a tumour from the spine of bus driver Brendan Flanagan. Left untreated, the tumour would see Brendan paralysed within a year but the operation to remove the growth is high risk and extremely delicate.

In the maternity unit of University Hospital Kerry, midwife Joanne Malik is helping Shauna Corcoran as she goes into labour with her second baby.

At the Mater Hospital in Dublin, we visit the Intensive Care Unit where Dr Colman O’Loughlin and his team struggle to find new beds for patients every day. Today marks the 70th day in ICU for 43-year-old Micheál O’Flynn from Ballingarry, Co Limerick, after he developed complications from swine flu.

In Naas,  we meet Tommy and Annette McCormack. Tommy is living with dementia but one of the highlights of his week is taking part in the Kildare Pastimes Choir, aimed at people living with dementia, their families and carers.

and

At the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin, Limerick man Derek Hayes is waiting for a last chance operation – performed only four times annually in Ireland – to restore his eyesight.

Series Overview

 

Major new documentary series Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day

One Day. 75 Cameras. The health service as you’ve never seen it before.

RTÉ One today announces a major new five-part documentary series, Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day, giving viewers unprecedented access to every aspect of the country’s health service.

Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day debuts on RTÉ One on Monday, August 29th at 9.35pm: 

Produced by Independent Pictures for RTÉ, Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day saw 75 camera crews sent to 70 locations nationwide. Filming was carried out over a 24-hour period on May 31st this year. Crews were given access to all aspects of the health service, with the co-operation of the Health Service Executive, hospitals and community services throughout the country. Patients and staff generously allowed cameras to witness some of their most personal moments at the coalface of the Irish health service.

RTÉ One channel controller Adrian Lynch said: “Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day was a huge undertaking, the result is a series that is incredibly moving but also gives viewers an unparalleled insight into the workings of Ireland’s health service. This is a warts-and-all documentary series that recognises the great work being carried out on the ground by frontline staff but which is unflinchingly honest in acknowledging that the system isn’t perfect.”

Every day more than 200,000 people access the health service in Ireland, 200 babies are born and 80 people die. Over the course of filming, camera crews around the country captured the experiences of a diverse range of staff and a steady stream of patients as they accessed care that day. From equine therapy for people with disabilities to public health nurses visiting rural bachelors through to major life-and-death surgeries, Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day witnesses people’s everyday struggles and triumphs, first hand. The result is a remarkable snapshot of a vast workplace and, through it, contemporary Irish life.

Managing director of Independent Pictures, Conor Moloney said: “It was a privilege to film Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day. Through intimate access we witnessed people’s lives being saved or changed forever. Some of what we saw was very profound but this series also celebrates and explores the everyday ways the health service touches us all.”

Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day starts on RTÉ One on Monday, August 29th at 9.35pm and will air throughout September.