24 Hours in A&E

A Good Life (2x7)

Air date: Jun 27, 2012

This episode focuses on some of the elderly patients who are treated at King's College Hospital, including a 93-year-old war veteran who arrives with life-threatening injuries after being knocked over by a hit and run driver just outside the hospital. Ernest was walking to get his pension when he was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road. He's rushed straight to resus, conscious but with injuries to his head and pelvis. Consultant Malcolm and his team are determined to do everything they can to keep Ernest alive. But as the team tend to Ernest's injuries, his heart fails and he goes into cardiac arrest. Malcolm needs to keep Ernest's heart going manually before his injuries can be assessed and he can be treated. Ernest's niece, Maureen, arrives to hear the terrible news that her beloved uncle - who raised her and her sisters in the absence of their father - is critically ill. On the same day, 83-year-old William's finger is mangled and bleeding after he's caught it on a machine at his metal working business. He was born in the year of the Wall Street Crash, but still loves working. He's not been to see a doctor in over 40 years and, like many older patients, he's worried that, despite his injuries needing urgent attention, he's a burden to the NHS, and apologises to the team treating him at King's. Another octogenarian who arrives at King's is 80-year-old Joyce. But she's not the patient; it's her son, Kevin, who collapsed at home. Fifty-one-year-old Kevin has learning difficulties and Joyce is fearful about what Kevin's life will be like once she passes away, so strong is their bond.