Best Laid Plans

Vascular surgeon Lewis Meecham arrives to find that beds on the ward are full, so there is no space for his two patients to be admitted. They have to be cancelled. With every minute of theatre time too precious to lose, Lewis and fellow surgeon Huw Davies must think on their feet and find other patients who are waiting on the ward for urgent surgery.

Neurosurgeon Amr Mohamed has reorganised his surgical list to prioritise 41-year-old dad-of-two Alyn. Alyn has a tumour growing inside his brain and into his left eye socket, very close to the optic nerve, which is responsible for vision. It’s an anxious time for Alyn and his family, but without surgery, he will lose his sight and may not survive. The responsibility of getting Alyn back to his family, and with his vision intact, weighs on Amr as surgery nears.

At University Hospital Llandough, highly experienced cardiac surgeon Indu Deglurkar is called upon to determine if 68-year-old electrician Stephen can have life-saving surgery. Stephen suffered a cardiac arrest at work and his heart stopped beating for 25 minutes. He was shocked nine times by colleagues and paramedics with an on-site defibrillator, which saved his life. Indu must decide if she can help him, but it’s a difficult call, as his heart is so badly damaged that operating would be high risk and have no guarantee of success.