A&E Live

“The unpredictability is the most challenging and the most exciting thing about this series. We just never know what is going to happen next and, I guess, that’s what being a doctor, nurse or paramedic on the frontline in Accident and Emergency is like on a daily basis. You just never know what is going to happen. No one has done this before. We want to give the viewers an insight into what one of the busiest, most efficient, trauma centres in the UK is really like…from the 999 phone call, from the ambulance, all the way through to A&E itself, to really celebrate the NHS and show the amazing work that they do.” Davina McCall

In this live documentary event, Davina McCall will be experiencing the drama of a major A&E department as it happens. Celebrating 70 years of the NHS, the series will tell the story of emergency medicine across a whole city, from the 999 call to the ambulance right through to treatment in A&E.

Witnessing all the drama from call to cure first hand, Davina will be embedded with the staff of Leeds General Infirmary across the week seeing events unfold through the eyes of the doctors, nurses and paramedics on the frontline.

She’ll experience it, as they do, never knowing who, or what, will come through the doors next. From dealing with everyday traumas to major incidents that require life-saving treatments. This innovative series will show you A&E as you’ve never seen it before.

Davina says: “I have endless personal experiences with A&E, as many of us do, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to deal with it every day. This shows how the A&E really works through the eyes of the amazing frontline staff.”

Leeds General Infirmary was the birthplace of emergency medicine and sees around 350 people come through the doors every day. Doctors witness everything including people who have fallen from buildings, been involved in major car crashes, lost limbs in industrial accidents and have been left fighting for their lives after being stabbed in a fight.

Over 20 million patients a year visit A&E and this series will follow the frontline staff on three consecutive evening shifts, never knowing who or what is coming through the emergency room doors next.

Davina adds: “I am learning that various days of the week are busier, Mondays are manic…if there’s a particularly boozy football match on…where there’s booze, there’s accidents. On Saturdays, kids do lots of sports, so there’s lots of breaks. I’m going to be embedded before we go live…but beyond that, I can’t prepare at all. And that’s what’s exciting about it.”

Leeds General Infirmary pioneered emergency medicine and had the first ever A&E consultant in the UK. The series will show the experience of staff and patients on the ground across the city’s two busy A&E departments. Access agreed with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust means the series will bring viewers an unprecedented up-close look at life in A&E at Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital and with ambulance crews serving the city. A&E Live is the true story of what happens, as it happens and offers the chance to meet some of the key characters across the service that keep everything running.

A&E Live is a key part of ITV’s special week of programming, including The NHS Heroes Awards and a Love Your Garden NHS Special, to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS this Spring, to provide a vivid insight into the incredible, life-changing and life-saving work done by the NHS and its staff across the UK.