A patient must decide if she wants to risk major surgery. A non-verbal young woman with Rett syndrome is showing alarming symptoms and is rushed to theatre, but doctors struggle to identify precisely what is wrong with her. A keen horserider has been waiting for three days for surgery on an abscess, and the doctors just can't find a space on their busy critical list
A heavy smoker has been bumped to the top of the list with his leg at risk of turning septic. But can a 22-year-old in pain from appendicitis wait to go into theatre? Care worker Julie is confronted with a life-altering diagnosis, and another case in the emergency department threatens to upset the whole list entirely