https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/press-releases/great-ormond-street-documentary-bbc2/

Great Ormond Street documentary on BBC2

8 May 2012, 6:07 p.m.

Dr Olga Slater Dr Penelope Brock and Dr Antony Michalski

A new documentary series following patients, families, doctors, surgeons and nurses at Great Ormond Street airs on BBC2.The first episode ‘A Difficult Line’ airs at 9pm, Tuesday 8 May 2012.  Viewers will be able to observe doctors and parents grappling with the difficult situation of rare and hard to treat cancers in children when the attempts at cure can almost be as devastating as the disease.

Filmed over the course of a year, this series marks the second time production company Films of Record have gained this unique level of access to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Each hour long programme will show doctors from across the hospital going about their remarkable duties – from meetings where they face impossible decisions to the operating theatres where they attempt never-tried-before procedures.

Taken as a whole the series provides an insight into the challenging ethical issues underlying daily decisions in the hospital, exploring how far medicine should go in the treatment of children.

It also shows the limitations in some of the current treatments and the difficulties the doctors face when they can no longer offer hope to patients and their families.

The programmes highlight some of the hospital’s most challenging and complex cases and can be very difficult and sometimes upsetting to watch.

For more information about the series and how you can support the hospital, visit our Great Ormond Steet documentary series section.

Contact Information

For further information please contact the GOSH-ICH Press Office on 020 7239 3125.
For genuine and urgent out-of-hours queries call switchboard on 020 7405 9200.

Notes to Editors

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust is the country’s leading centre for treating sick children, with the widest range of specialists under one roof.

With the UCL Institute of Child Health, we are the largest centre for paediatric research outside the US and play a key role in training children’s health specialists for the future.

Our charity needs to raise £50 million every year to help rebuild and refurbish Great Ormond Street Hospital, buy vital equipment and fund pioneering research. With your help we provide world class care to our very ill children and their families.