My Life In A&E

Dr James Griffiths on the pressure of rising patient numbers and how we can help…

- Joanne Lowles

They are the busiest beds in the business, so where better to start the new series of BBC1’s The Secret Life of the Hospital Bed than in A&E? ‘We see about 230 patients a day,’ says Dr James Griffiths, consultant and clinical lead of the emergency department at Barnsley Hospital. ‘From babies to people who are 100 years old, we see the full spectrum and the numbers just keep on going up.’

The 10-part series has cameras on beds in four different hospitals: Barnsley, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leeds Children’s Hospital. We caught up with Dr Griffiths to discuss the reality of life in the front line of the NHS...

How long have you worked at Barnsley Hospital?

I finished my training and became a consultant in 2011, and I’ve been clinical lead for the last 18 months.

Does your job make you worry about your own children more?