Synopsis Guide
EPISODE ONE – “24 HOURS OF TRAUMA”
Cameras follow Irish doctor, Patrick MacGoey and intern Kaajal Pharboo through their 24-hour month-end shift in Bara’s overburdened Trauma Unit, where stabbings, rape and motor vehicle accident victims are standard fare.
EPISODE TWO – “OVERLOAD”
Medical Admission Ward 20 deals with all of Soweto’s non-surgical medical emergencies. Doctors are constantly overwhelmed by the numbers of patients seeking help and in this ward, 50% to 60% of deaths are due to AIDS-related illnesses.
EPISODE THREE – “FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE”
Three out of ten pregnant women have HIV in South Africa today. The Maternity Unit at Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital delivers about 70 babies a day, many born with the disease and who come into the world with no say in their care or management of the disease.
EPISODE FOUR – “SEEING THE LIGHT”
Eye doctors at Bara’s St John’s Eye Clinic can treat up to a few hundred people a day. People can expect to wait most of the day in the queue to see a doctor. The waiting list for cataract surgery is currently two years.
EPISODE FIVE – “HEALING THE WOUNDS”
Dr Adelin Muganza is head of Bara’s Burn Unit. Mostly poverty related, accidental burns constitute two thirds of all his admissions; suicide attempts about 5% and the rest are due to assault. In the Trauma Unit, Dr Patrick MacGoey tries to save the life of a seven-year-old girl, knocked down outside her home by an unlicensed driver.
EPISODE SIX – “VITAL ORGANS”
South Africa struggles with massive organ shortages urgently needed for patients awaiting transplant. At Bara, Organ Donor Co-ordinator Sister Matsie Pooe works hard to convince those in her community to defy their cultural beliefs and become donors.
EPISODE SEVEN – “PANDEMIC”
About 900 South Africans are dying a day from AIDS-related illnesses. Getting people to admit they have the disease and onto treatment is a major stumbling block in the management of the continent-wide pandemic.
EPISODE EIGHT – “INTENSIVE CARE”
A touching story from Bara’s ICU about the hospital’s longest running patient, Peter Bouhail, ill with a severe case Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The story of his rehabilitation and friendship with the nurses is heart-warming.