Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day, Episode 4 of 5, RTÉ One, Monday, September 19th
In the fourth episode of Keeping Ireland Alive: The health service in a day we travel to Croom, orthopaedic surgeon Professor Eric Masterson is getting ready to operate on patient Gabrielle Real. Gabrielle is a young woman who has come in for a bi-lateral hip replacement, an unusual surgery, especially in a patient so young.
At the Residential Alcohol Detoxification Service, medically assisted alcohol detox service run by the Dublin Simon Community, we meet Gerry Byrne who is checking in with the hope of quitting alcohol for good. We follow him through the first hours of his detox.
Also in Dublin, community occupational therapist Andrew Semple pays home visits to patients, among them Michael Quigley who suffered a brain injury and subsequently a stroke. Today Andrew brings him a new wheelchair to test out.
In Galway, we find Mary Thornton, who collects terminally ill people in her bus to bring them to a hospice in Galway for respite.
In Athlone, we visit the Emergency Aeromedical Service, as they fly to emergency cases around the country. Today, they travel to tend to someone suffering a cardiac arrest. Some 60 per cent of all their calls are to medical cases like this one.
Over in Limerick, Richard McEvoy is preparing for renal dialysis. Richard has suffered from kidney disease his whole life and his condition has deterioriated over the last couple of years. He is now on a transplant list for a new kidney but the average waiting time for a donor kidney is approximately two years.
In Dublin Thomas O’Neill has had some very exciting news. Suffering from lung disease for the past 20 years, Thomas knows that time is quickly running out unless he receives a transplant. He has received the call to let him know that donor lungs have been found.
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.