999: The Critical List

In this episode, operating theatre co-ordinator Niki is juggling the busiest month in five years for A&E. Kevin has a suspected burst colon. Tanzeen has self-inflicted injuries with three needles in his neck. Eleven-year-old Deekan is only hours away from potentially losing a testicle and is rushed to theatre. And Freddie must have a dental abscess removed before any infection spreads.

The critical list team face a busy 48-hour period as they juggle complex patients and a succession of life-or-death emergency operations. Sixty-one-year-old Vanessa must decide if she wants to risk major surgery. Emma, a non-verbal young woman with Rett syndrome, is showing alarming symptoms and is rushed to theatre. But doctors struggle to identify precisely what is wrong with Emma. And keen horserider Julie has been waiting for three days for surgery on an abscess. But the doctors just can't find a space on their busy critical list.

At the Royal Blackburn Hospital, the critical list team juggle urgent life or death cases as they come through the door. It's up to the staff to decide who will go next into Theatre 6, the only operating room dedicated to unplanned emergency procedures. Sixty-five-year-old heavy smoker David has been bumped to the top of the list with his leg at risk of turning septic. But can Mitchell, a 22-year-old in pain from appendicitis, wait to go into theatre after David? Care worker Julie is confronted with a life-altering diagnosis. And then another case in the emergency department threatens to upset the whole list entirely.