"Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS in a Day"
BBC2, 21:00, Tuesday 26 March

A new documentary series filmed during a 24-hour period in 100 hospital trusts across the UK starts tonight on BBC2.

"Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS in a Day", involved camera crews being  dispatched to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) and dozens of other hospitals across the country on 18 October 2012 to film everything from cancer units to neurosurgery, and following everyone from Jeremy Hunt to a remote island GP.

The resulting eight-part series shows the extraordinary breadth of demands that are placed on this vast system in one single day.

In tonight’s episode the crews follow Matron Liz Miller, who is in charge of the Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) at QEHB.

She begins her day dealing with a self-discharged patient, still in his gown, walking through the hospital grounds. Liz and her team process every patient that walks through her department’s doors: from a man with chest pains, to a heroin user who has been throwing up blood, to elderly patients with multiple ailments.

Tonight’s episode also features a hospital in West Sussex, where a patient is preparing for a life-changing gastric band operation while contending with the comments of those that feel the NHS shouldn't foot the bill. During surgery, doctors make an unexpected discovery and the patient is faced with the prospect of a bigger battle ahead.

In Leeds, 64-year-old Graham is rushed into A&E with a stroke. A multidisciplinary team of nurses, radiologists and anaesthetists prepare for an experimental treatment that could save his speech.

Back in QEHB’s CDU, 90-year-old Jeanette must decide whether to reject the invasive cancer surgery that could extend her life, while Matron Liz ends her shift looking for a regular who has gone walkabout.

The documentary series features 88 NHS services and 32 hospitals across 26 counties. More than 100 camera crews captured 1,217 hours of footage during the 24-hour period.