A Lot to Lose

The hospitals of NHS Lothian serve a population of almost a million in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. Surgeons face life-changing and life-enhancing operations that involve calculated risks for them and their patients.

Consultant hepato-biliary surgeon Rajan Ravindran takes on complex procedures involving the liver, pancreas and gall bladder. The operation he is performing is a joint case with consultant transplant surgeons Andrew Sutherland and John Casey. It’s so rare that it has only been performed in Scotland three times before.

Meanwhile, at the Western General Hospital, consultant urological surgeon Alex Laird’s patient has a lot to lose. 61-year-old Ed, who serves as his wife’s full-time carer, has kidney cancer. Because of the tumour’s growth, the operation is highly complex.