The Operation: Surgery Live – Addenbrooke’s in UK TV first

This new Channel 4 series gives TV viewers the chance to interact with leading surgeons as they operate – live.

 

At 11pm on Wednesday 27 May, upper gastrointestinal surgeon Mr Richard Hardwick and his team will carry out a laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication – keyhole surgery to repair a hiatus hernia of the stomach. The patient has had a 15-year problem with acid reflux that has become significantly worse in the last ten months.

 

The series is being produced in association with the Wellcome Trust, who will host a studio audience at the Wellcome Collection in London. Experts in the studio will include another Addenbrooke’s surgeon, Mr Simon Dwerryhouse, whose job is to help guide viewers at home through what they’re watching. Gastroenterologist Rebecca Fitzgerald and urologist Nimish Shah will also be in the audience to provide further information.

 

As the operations are carried out, viewers can send in their questions by phone and e-mail as well as through internet sites like Twitter and Facebook.

 

David Glover, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for Science, says: “Surgeons routinely teach and talk observers through operations. Now, for the first time, viewers will be able to interact with surgeons as they carry out life-changing procedures.”

 

The team in theatre on the night will include Kevin Gunning (anaesthetist), Yuk Man Kan (registrar), Edna Kouzel (scrub nurse), Bibi Toonah (circulating nurse), Claire Beecham (operating department practitioner), and Gemma Claudio (nurse).

 

Throughout the week, the series will take viewers to other leading NHS hospitals: Papworth (Monday, 10.25pm), Southampton General (Tuesday, 10.30pm), and King’s College Hospital (Thursday, 11pm). The series is hosted by presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

 

For more information, or to apply for tickets to be part of the studio audience, go to:

www.channel4.com/explore/surgerylive