NHS documentary set to put Dales nurse in TV spotlight

Dot Scarth, who works for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, is part of a district nursing team who provide care for some of the most vulnerable people in the local community.

She will be the subject of a forthcoming BBC2 documentary series Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS in A Day, which shines a light on how the National Health Service deals with the increasing demands placed upon it.

Dot is one of the people who will feature in tomorrow’s episode, showing her undertaking a typical day’s work as a district nurse in the Yorkshire Dales.

The film crew followed her as she visited a house-bound woman patient and her husband, whose health is also affected by a long term medical condition, as well as visiting older patients in their homes to administer injections, or change dressings and tubes.

“The trust was approached last year to host a camera crew for the series and the district nursing team were asked if they wanted to take part. We wanted to do it because we recognised that it was a fantastic opportunity for the team and could highlight what we do,” she said.

“District nursing has changed enormously over the last 25 years and we are now involved with patients with very complex conditions at home. It’s a privilege to nurse people in their own homes and it’s vital that we support the whole family unit.

“It’s very much a team effort, not just at Cross Hills but right across the Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven area. We provide a 24-hour nursing service and work closely with local GPs, specialist nurses and other agencies to provide good quality care at home.”

The series was filmed in one day in October with 100 camera crews dispatched across the UK to film every corner of the NHS from cancer units to bariatric wards, air ambulances to neuro-surgery, following everyone from Jeremy Hunt to a remote island GP.

The episode featuring Dot takes a look at the NHS outside the hospital environment, and through a vast patchwork of experience reveals its role in our lives from cradle to grave – touching everything in between.