Addenbrooke’s filming for “Surgeons: At the Edge of Life”

Addenbrooke's is filming with a production company for "Surgeons: At the Edge of Life"

Addenbrooke’s is again taking part in the documentary, “Surgeons: At the Edge of Life”, and as part of the new series, a one-off episode is being made about major trauma. 

Filming for this part of this documentary will take place at Addenbrooke’s from 16th and 23rd September and staff may encounter the film crew when arriving with major trauma patients at the ED and the handover process.

Below is some information about the documentary that has been provided by the production company, Dragonfly TV.

BBC DOCUMENTARY FILMING - SURGEONS: AT THE EDGE OF LIFE 

Dragonfly TV is currently filming a new series of the BBC documentary ‘Surgeons: At The Edge of Life’ at Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth. As part of the new series, a one-off episode is being made about major trauma.  

What is being filmed? 

The hour-long episode will follow the journeys of a number of major trauma patients from arrival in the emergency department to surgery.  As a BBC ‘specialist factual’ commission, this series aims to give a unique insight into complex procedures and groundbreaking medicine at Addenbrooke's as a Major Trauma Centre.  

When and where is filming taking place? 

Filming will take place between 16th and 23rd September

The majority of our filming will focus on hospital treatment within Addenbrooke's.  

However, because we want to capture as much of the vital care given to patients from the beginning of their hospital pathway through to surgery, we may want to film ambulance crews arriving with patients at the ED along with the handover process in resus. 

All filming will take place within hospital grounds. We will not be filming on the road with crews.  

How will the episode be filmed?  

The production team will use rigged cameras (remotely operated) in the two major trauma resus bays. There may also be a small filming team with one handheld camera capturing the essential work as patients arrive and are brought into the hospital. 

The filming will be “fly on the wall”/observational in nature; the clinical care of the patient is paramount; filming will not interrupt the flow of patient care. 

Crew consent for filming 

If ambulance crews are happy to be filmed as part of the series, the production company will seek written consent from that staff member. For those who don’t want to be featured, the production team will make a note of their wishes. Crews will not be featured in the series without their written consent. 

If crews are involved in filming, please also be aware there’s also a chance they won’t end up making the final cut of the episode.  

Which patients will be filmed? 

The production team will only be following the paths of suitable trauma patients most likely to end up in surgery. In terms of which major trauma cases they will follow, again patient care and their privacy and confidentiality is central to the process. The decision on whether a case is suitable will only be made by the lead clinician for their care. 

Safety/infection control 

There has already been extensive discussions with CUH safety and infection control regarding ‘trauma’ filming.   The TV team will be adhering to all CUH guidance at all times and will follow direction from CUH leads if situations require filming to stop or for the TV team to take a step back.    

Who is doing the filming? 

The team is from Dragonfly TV, an award winning and highly regarded production company who are very experienced in working with ambulance crews on the award-winning series ‘Ambulance’. 

They are a trusted and very experienced team, particularly when it comes to working in hospital environments under pressure. The team will contain several individuals who have extensive experience working in ED and trauma environments, from programmes like “24 Hours in A&E” and “Critical Condition”. 

If you have any questions about the filming process, please contact Grace Goddard, the fulltime Trauma Producer, on grace.goddardDF@dragonfly.tv