Hospital seeks to inspire stroke story on Casualty
18 February 2016
Health Care
Consultants at Southend University Hospital may just have a thing or two to teach ace clinical lead Connie Beauchamp on the hit BBC drama Casualty.
A story assistant from the Saturday night drama visited the
hospital recently to gain a greater insight into the hospital's
award winning stroke service.
Southend is a leader in its stroke care and story assistant,
Hannah Durham, travelled from the filming home of Casualty in
Cardiff, which masquerades as the location of the A&E
department of Holby City Hospital.
The visit was organised thanks to stroke consultant Dr Sajid
Alam, who is a huge fan of the show and its sister series, Holby
City. He said: "My wife and I always watch it and I thought that we
could offer a fresh and unique perspective into stroke which we
haven't seen covered on the show."
One visit later and Hannah was instantly wowed by all she learnt
from an in depth talk and tour by Dr Alam and the stroke team, such
as how it can affect young people and symptoms that can be masked
by making its sufferer appear as if they have been drinking.
Hannah also got to meet world renowned interventional
neuroradiologist Professor Iris Grunwald who discussed her work
with thrombectomy where she quite literally pulls out blood clots
using a fine wire inserted into the vein. Southend is one of only a
handful of hospitals in the UK to perform this pioneering
procedure.
Sajid said: "Obviously Casualty is a fictional drama but it has
to reflect the real medical world and its advances, it can also
help educate the viewer in conditions such as stroke. If we can
help influence the show and get that message out on a prime time
Saturday night then we could help save lives not just across Essex
but across the whole UK."
It's yet to be decided if the visit will inspire elements of a
future episode but information gathered on the day will now be
shared at story meetings and with script writers, as well as with
staff on sister show Holby City.