The heartbreaking moment a junior doctor tried to comfort a woman while gently admitting that her husband might not survive a bleed to his brain has left viewers full of praise for the work of the NHS.
Casualty 24/7, which aired on Channel 5 last night, followed Tracey, from South Yorkshire, as she watched doctors desperately trying to stablilise her husband Phil, 56, after he suffered a bleed on his brain.
At one stage, junior doctor Dan Bewick took Tracey to a separate cubicle to reassure her that Phil was sedated and ‘not aware what was going on’, but a devastated Tracey wanted to know: ‘Might he die?’.
Tracey was left in floods of tears after the doctor told her: ‘There’s a pause there, because the honest answer is “I don’t know”.’
Later, he opened up about the challenging conversation, telling the camera: ‘You want to be able to say everything is going to be okay, and everything will be fine.
‘But you don’t know that. And it would be unfair to say that. It would give false assurances if they don’t exist.’
Thankfully, doctors were able to stabilise Phil, and viewers learned at the end of the documentary that he was set to make a full recovery, after 10 days in intensive care.
The new Channel 4 documentary followed Phil, 56, from South Yorkshire, after he suffered a suspected brain bleed. Doctors at Barnsley hospital worked furiously to stabilize him
One tweeted:’Fantastic new series. Pretty close to home this week on two of the cases. Knowing that what I’ve had are both fatal in so many cases. #NHSsavedmylife so grateful.’
Phil, an apparently healthy middle-aged man, collapsed on the floor of his bedroom after getting out of bed.
It was revealed that the patient had suffered from migraines in the morning and vomited several time before making it to the hospital.
With Phil came his panicked wife Tracy, who couldn’t hold back her tears as she watched doctors rush around her husband in an attempt to save his life.
Junior Doctor Dan Bewick was one of those praised after last night’s episode, as viewers watched him comfort Tracey, who was devastated by her husband’s health scare
Viewers praised the work of the NHS on last night’s programme, with many taking to Twitter to admire the doctors
She explained: ‘I kept checking on him, and he was vomiting all over the bed. And he said, he can’t get up. And then he started fitting. And he didn’t know where he was.’
The clearly heartbroken Tracey said: ‘I’m his wife. He didn’t know who I was. I don’t know the state that he’s in.’
Doctor Dan explained that he was worried about the potential brain bleed, saying: ‘It’s obviously concerning that someone that’s young, someone that’s normal fit and well.’
Luckily, Phil’s CT scan reveals his brain injury isn’t as bad as Doctor Dan Bewick initially feared, but the injury could
Shortly after the patient was admitted to the A&E, Dan explained to Tracy that the team would send Phil for a CT scan, in order to get an understanding of any potential brain injury.
Dan quietly told a tearful Tracey: ‘When I know a bit more, you’ll know a bit more.’
Because of Phil’s poor state, he was hooked to a machine to provide his lungs with oxygen.
The doctors planned to send the scans to the doctors at Sheffield Hallam Hospital in order to get more information.
Dan Bewick was just one of the junior doctors on the programme last night, and at one stage was heard talking to her about the possibility of her husband dying
And luckily, the results of the scan were not as bad as Dan had expected, with the doctor revealing: ‘The scan wasn’t any massive intracranial impact like I was expecting. But it looks like there is some blood.’
Thankfully, doctors were able to stabilise Phil and made preparations to move him to Sheffield Hallam Hospital for further treatment.
Dan added: ‘I personally try to keep a track of my patients, for example a couple of days later I phoned the intensive care unit to see how he was getting on.’
A clearly devastated Tracey was comforted by a variety of doctors on last night’s programme, having rushed her husband to hospital after he collapsed suddenly
Doctors were able to stabilise Phil, and made prepartions for him to move to a more specialist unit at Sheffield Hallam Hospital
It was revealed that having spent 10 days in intensive care, Phil made a full recovery from his health scare
Thankfully, Phil and Tracy’s story has a happy ending as the show revealed that after 10 days in intensive care, he was set to make a full recovery.
Viewers took to Twitter to praise the work of the doctors who saved Phil’s life, while taking time out to comfort Tracey.
One posted:’Amazing watching the inside of the #Casualty247′
‘Ready to watch #Casualty247 and as always, feeling incredibly blessed for our NHS. What amazing heroes, going above and beyond for so many lives,’ another posted.
One added:’Proud of our ED team demonstrating great patient care and good emergency medicine.’
Viewers took to Twitter to exalt the NHS, with one saying they felt ‘incredibly blessed’, calling the doctors ‘heroes’
