Brand new interactive documentary series counts the cost of the NHS

23 April 2014

With the NHS facing a momentous funding crisis which could threaten its very survival, Channel 4’s Head of Documentaries Nick Mirsky has commissioned a brand new interactive documentary series examining the decisions made every day about which patients are paid for.

NHS: The Cost of Living (w/t) will follow the stories of individuals with a wide range of medical conditions - all of them seeking treatment by the NHS. Some will receive it, some will not. With a live presence through the broadcast of the documentaries, this innovative format will challenge viewers to decide for themselves who should receive the treatment and how the NHS should spend its rapidly depleting funds. The decisions viewers take will be registered and contribute to the debate but will not impact directly on any patient care.

In a typical week the NHS spends over £2bn, but the costs of keeping the nation healthy are rising much quicker than the NHS budget. A perfect storm is forming that is testing the NHS like never before. A growing population, increased life expectancy, expensive drugs and poor lifestyle choices all contribute to NHS England predicting a £30 billion-plus funding gap in just over 10 years’ time.

Mirsky says: “The series will reveal the costs of each patient to the NHS and explore the complex ethical and financial dilemmas faced by clinicians as these become an increasingly prevalent factor in the care they are able to offer patients. NHS: The Cost of Living (w/t) will ask viewers - would you make decisions differently about where and how the NHS spends its money if you knew the full emotional, social and medical context of each treatment? We can't afford to provide all the medical treatment that we would like to – in the debate programme we will ask our viewers where and how we draw the line – who should receive it and who should be denied.”

NHS: The Cost of Living (w/t) will be a 4 x 60’ documentary series followed by a live debate which will explore directly - and in depth - the questions raised in the films and what they mean for the future of one of our most-loved institutions.

It’s the first major documentary commission for new independent production company Voltage TV. The series will be series produced by Jon Alwen and exec produced by Sanjay Singhal.

Singhal says: “It’s an ambitious programme combining strong character-led storytelling, difficult access, solid journalism and innovation in form – with tricky moral dilemmas running through its core. We couldn’t hope for more from our first series”.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• Singhal started Voltage TV last year after standing down as MD of Dragonfly Productions.
• Voltage has also produced a pilot science format for Channel 4 and is in production with a BBC documentary. The company has eight other funded developments in progress.