Channel 5’s Operation Live with Mr Kulvinder Lall

Channel 5 is providing a rare opportunity to viewers by inviting them inside an operating theatre at St Bartholomew's Hospital while surgeon, Mr Kulvinder Lall, will be performing open heart surgery. The surgery will involve Mr Lall replacing an aortic valve for his patient, a surgery that many of our patient ambassadors have been through themselves.

The series hopes to take the mystery out of surgery and show what really happens when patients go into the operating theatre. The surgery being performed my Mr Lall, will involve the most common technique for aortic valve replacement, to perform surgery on the valves via the chest, called a sternotomy. This is when the surgeon divides the breastbone to gain access to the heart. This technique is useful when a wide exposure to the heart is required to perform the operation.

Credit also must be paid to the patient and their family who are providing the opportunity to have this life changing surgery filmed for us all to see. This is an excellent insight into the patient experience and what to expect of treatments such as this for both the patients and their loved ones.

The show will air 13 November at 10pm on Channel Five.