City Hospital documentary lifts the lid on life-saving kidney ops
BELFAST City Hospital has opened its doors to the incredible work being done there every day to save the lives of people who need a new kidney.
A new BBC One Northern Ireland film, airing tonight, will take viewers on an emotional and revealing journey behind the doors of the hospital’s renal unit.
The programme, which goes out at 10.40pm, includes interviews with donors, dialysis patients, transplant recipients, those on the waiting list for a new kidney, and the specialist surgeons who carry out the life-saving operations.
Upper Bann UUP MLA JoAnne Dobson makes an appearance alongside her son, Mark, as the pair find out she is a compatible kidney donor for her son.
True North: Life On The List hears from other living donors, including the motivation for one man, Anthony Loveless, who decided to anonymously donate a kidney to a complete stranger.
The programme also gives viewers an insight into transplant procedures, getting exclusive access to renowned surgeon Tim Brown in theatre, and discovers how the kidney sharing scheme requires meticulous coordination and collaboration to make it a success.
Belfast City Hospital is home to one of the world’s top centres for kidney transplantation, with nearly 2,500 kidney transplants performed there to date.
In September, the renal unit equalled a UK record by carrying out five transplants in a single day, with a team of 14 doctors, 20 nurses and three scientists involved.