Open Space — Season 1, Episode 5: National Health Service: 1: the Consultant's Tale

Episode synopsis

Old people now occupy half the country's hospital beds. They are mostly dependent on the comprehensive,care of the NHS. Dr Peter Fisher is the kind of hospital doctor who looks after them. He works at Banbury's Horton Hospital - the sort of local general hospital we all rely Oh. But Dr Fisher and some of his consultant colleagues feel that the NHS is now in real danger from Government cuts and privatisation. A week in his working life explains why we should np longer take him for granted... Made in co-operation with the NHS Consultants Association

About Open Space

Open Space was a programme produced by the BBC's Community Programme Unit. It was an evolution of the earlier Open Door series of programmes allowing minority points of view to make a television programme about issues of concern to them. The programmes were transmitted on BBC 2 in a mid-evening slot and would attract audiences between 500,000 and 1,500,000. In a typical year there would be two or three groups of up to eight Open Space programmes each usually half an hour long. A producer, an assistant and a budget of up to £25,000 would be allocated to each programme.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Power in Your Hands
• E2Time and Other Thieves
• E3Christine's Children
• E4Chingari - The Spark
• E6National Health Service: 2: Mission of Mersey
• E7National Health Service: 3: On Whose Authority?
• E8A Day Off the Buses
• E9Ducking the Rocks - A Social Worker's Life
• E10Downtown Video
• E11Health Care: Your Money or Your Life
• E12A Healthy Future?
• E13A Midsummer Night’s Belfast