At a time when the future of the health service is headline news, the RTS Award-winning 24 Hours in A&E returns to reveal the reality on the frontline of the NHS.

Filmed around the clock over 45 days, the new 14-part series offers amazing access to one of Britain's busiest A&E departments at King's College Hospital in South London.

Ninety-one high definition cameras, the most ever used in a series of this kind, capture dramatic stories of love, life and death unfolding every day.

Each programme focuses on people who were treated within the same 24-hour period, capturing the joy and heartache faced by patients and their families, as well as the hard work and professionalism of the A&E staff.

The new series explores new areas of King's A&E, meaning that even more aspects of stories can be shown. There are now cameras in the CT scanner room, where life and death diagnoses are made, Paediatrics, where children are treated, and in the Resus room that has doubled in size.

From victims of shocking random acts of violence on the streets and people making heart-breaking bedside decisions through to children with peas stuck up their noses, 24 Hours in A&E is an intimate, powerful and sometimes comic, but ultimately heart-warming portrait of modern Britain in all its variety.

Series Prod: Kirsty Cunningham
Exec Prods: Tom McDonald, Nick Curwin
Prod Co: The Garden Productions

This week the award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E, which is filmed at King's College Hospital in south London, focuses on a number of patients whose mysterious illnesses prove difficult to diagnose for the Emergency Department staff.

Nine-year-old Tino is rushed to Resus after slumping over her desk at school. Usually a lively young girl, she can't remember what day it is or her surname. She doesn't even recognise her own Mum, who has rushed from work to be by her side.

Treating Tino is consultant Liz. She's been at King's for a decade and, despite her years of experience, even she isn't initially certain what's wrong with Tino: "When you get people who are disorientated it means they're losing their grip on reality," Liz explains. "Tino had an almost disengaged appearance. Her lack of fear made me more concerned that she was unwell... I was trying to cover all the potential options for here - all of them were life-threatening."

Liz's concern is that Tino is displaying the symptoms of encephalitis, a viral infection which causes swelling of the brain and which, if not treated, can have devastating consequences. As Liz treats Tino with anti-viral drugs, her mum Tracey can only wait to see if her daughter's memory will return and if she will be restored to health: "Me and Tino, we have a very strong bond, a very strong bond. Tino is a very vibrant, articulate, smart girl," says Tracey. "I love Tino so much and I was so scared I was going to lose her."

In Majors, 45-year-old Karen has come to King's accompanied by her daughter Samantha, her son Alfie and her grandson Harrison. She's experiencing numbness down her left side and needs a scan. It soon becomes clear, however, that Karen's condition is more complicated than it first appears. Karen's daughter Samantha reveals that her mum experiences anxiety attacks that have worsened since the death of Karen's father. "She's very anxious with anything, a worrier," says Samantha. "She's always been the same, but losing my granddad was a massive moment in her life... he was her rock, so losing him made her life literally head south."

Karen's been told by various doctors over the years that her issue isn't physical, but psychological. "I visit the doctor regularly, maybe every couple of days," says Karen. "I feel limited because I need to be near a doctor's or a hospital....they've told me I've Severe Health Anxiety, but I don't accept it."

Meanwhile, in Resus, 11-year-old Bailey has been brought to King's after he was run over outside school by a slow moving car. He's broken his leg and has cuts to his face and body and has to endure the excruciating pain of having his broken leg physically re-straightened before it can be pinned. "I think this is kind of being sexist but men aren't supposed to cry...and women are.... I'm not sure but I think that's what it is," says Bailey. "I have learnt that you should never cross the road where there's not a crossing and look both ways... twice!"

This week the award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E, which is filmed at King's College Hospital in south London, focuses on the bond between parents and children - including the youngest patient ever featured on the series - and what happens when the roles have to be reversed due to illness.

Three-month-old Jaziah has been rushed to resus with breathing difficulties. He's severely underweight and has an enlarged liver. Consultant Jacqui needs to act fast to keep Jaziah alive: "I think I knew instantaneously that he was desperately unwell," says Jacqui. "You are looking at lots of different little things that might be clues because obviously a baby can tell you nothing...I was worried that he was sick enough that he might die."

Jaziah's mum, Kenita, can only watch as the specialist paediatric team is called in to assist Jacqui: "The way they were rushing around I knew that something was wrong," Kenita says. "They were just poking him everywhere, checking everywhere on him. I was a bit angry at first, I was thinking ‘That's my little baby, what the hell are you doing?" I wanted to tell them to leave him alone, he's fine... but I obviously I knew he wasn't fine."

The team is concerned that Jaziah's swollen liver signifies that there's a problem with his heart and that he may need immediate surgery to save his life.

In paediatric A&E is 18-month-old Charlie. He's been feeling unwell for five days. As his mum Kerry waits for a urine sample, she reflects on how her life has changed as a mother: "I think really from the moment you find out that you're pregnant, you're a parent... you're responsible, it's about your child," says Kerry. "You hate the thought of that person being sad or in pain...you care more about that person than anyone."

Meanwhile 81-year-old Ronald has been brought in by his daughter Tracey with a suspected stroke, which is affecting his speech. He needs a CT scan to assess how serious it is and what his hopes of rehabilitation are. Registrar N'daba has been working with stroke patients for many years and has seen how quickly the parent/child relationship is reversed: "When the stroke happens, what we see a lot of is their children coming in and being the parent in a sense," he says. "Most people get decades to make that transition, but with a stroke it literally happens overnight."

As night falls, 19-year-olds Emily and Amber are waiting for news on Charlie, who they've brought to the hospital after he hurt his hand. They've never met him before, but wanted to make sure he didn't have to come to the hospital alone. "Even in a hospital when you've got people around you, you still want someone who knows you, someone who really, really cares not because they have to, but because they do just love you," says Amber.

This week the award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E, which is filmed at King's College Hospital in south London, focuses on a parent's nightmare: a young child with severe burns.

It's below freezing outside and the forecasters are predicting heavy snow. As the hospital calls in extra supplies in anticipation of a surge in cases, the waiting room is filling up with patients who've had slips and falls on the ice.

Five-year-old Daisy is rushed into resus with her dad Damien after her skirt caught alight on their gas fire. She has first and second degree burns over around 13% of her body. Paediatric sister Jen (NB not the other Jen - senior sister Jen du Prat - familiar to regular viewers of the series) needs to treat Daisy and try to ease her pain and distress: "We see an awful lot of burns...children that step on hair straighteners, children that get burnt by hot oil," she says. "A burn that comes in as a red phone tends to be first and second degree burns, they are going to be in agony."

Daisy is losing fluid as a result of her burns so needs to be constantly replenished to keep her stable: ‘With burns children we've got to replace what they are possibly losing through that burn," says Jen. "If they are losing the fluid they have got nothing to sustain them...so the heart's not going to work in the way it should to the extent that eventually it would stop working."

When Damien saw his daughter was on fire, he put out the naked flames with his bare hands, which are currently protected with plastic bags, so he too needs treatment from the team at King's: "It was completely knee jerk," says Damien. "I just recognised the need to get the fire out and off her as quickly as was physically possible."

Dane has brought his 74-year-old dad Maurice to King's after he fell and hurt his hand. Maurice spent his working life as a concierge, dealing with celebrities and dignitaries, but he now has dementia and his short-term memory is failing him.

"He's a good dad, a really good dad... he's always got on with people and he makes me laugh all the time," says Dane. "He's got a bathroom with a mirror and he's talking to himself...it makes me choke up seeing him going like that...I have to walk out of the room sometimes as I'll burst out crying."

As the snow begins to fall in earnest, 61-year-old Ginger is being treated in minors. She was putting a cashmere jumper over her cat Hector to keep him warm when he scratched her and now her hand is infected and swollen. But she's surprised to find out she may need to stay overnight at King's for treatment.

Meanwhile, five-tear-old burns victim Daisy needs to be transferred for specialist treatment, including skin grafts, but no-one can be sure whether her scars will be permanent.

The award winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with an episode focused on one of King's newest recruits and the importance of family in times of crisis.

Staff nurse Sophie has moved from the Lancashire coast to work at King's College Hospital in south London, leaving her family behind for the first time. She's been at King's for just three weeks and it's been an eye-opening experience: "I had a bit of a shock when I first got here: stabbings, gunshot wounds, pushbikes colliding with buses - you don't see many farming accidents down here!" says Sophie.

Sophie's first patient today is 22-year-old chef James. He's come to King's after a stabbing, but in this case it was self-inflicted - James accidentally stabbed himself in the thigh with a paring knife while chopping tomatoes at work. He's bleeding heavily and requires deep tissue stitches, as well as needing to make a tricky phone call to his worried mum.

As James is transferred to a ward, another patient arrives on a red phone: Sophie must try to keep them alive manually with chest compressions. She reflects on how she copes with patients dying: "I was 17 or 18 when I saw my first patient die...every death hits you and it's hard to accept sometimes," says Sophie. "That's why if you try and treat everyone like it was your family or how you would like to be treated yourself then you'll do OK."

As night falls, 54-year-old dad of two Bernard is brought to resus. He's fallen against a car and hurt his head. He was apparently unconscious for ten minutes and doctors are concerned about damage to his head, neck and spine.

Joined at the hospital by his daughter Cassie and ex-wife, it soon becomes clear that Bernard's accident is a result of an evening's drinking. "He's very likeable; he's very friendly and very generous - especially when he's had a drink," says Cassie. "He's fallen over, he's cut his mouth. He thinks he's OK and that he's had one too many, but I'm worried if nobody's there to help him."

Meanwhile, 83-year-old Ruby arrives with severe knee pain, accompanied by her worried daughter, Sarah: "Mum finds it hard to be cared for, it's just not in her nature to let down her guard," says Sarah. "But that can be difficult because you don't know how she's really feeling. She'll say ‘I'm fine' - she's not fine."

The award winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with a powerful and poignant episode focusing on mothers and daughters and coming to terms with mortality.

71-year-old Josephine has been brought to King's College Hospital in south London with chronic breathing difficulties by her daughter Jackie. Terminally-ill with cancer, which has spread throughout her body, Josephine is nearing the end of her life. "I knew there was a possibility, a huge possibility that my mum wasn't coming back out of hospital," says Jackie. "But I thought then, no, she isn't going to die today."

Josephine is so ill that decisions need to be made on whether she would choose to be resuscitated should her condition worsen. It's an impossibly difficult decision to make and a painful moment for Jackie who's not ready to let her mum go: "She's going to get better...aren't you girl and then you're going to get out of here... You will bloody get better, do you hear me?!"

Treating Josephine is nurse Abbie. Before coming to King's, she worked in palliative care: "It would be my worst nightmare if I had to look after one of my parents if they were passing on, but here's this person that you love so much, who brought you into this world, lying in a bed and their life is slowly coming to an end," says Abbie. "And now you're the one to look after them and try and nurture them and make the other end of life a little bit better. You can give back what they gave you."

"For the doctor to have that conversation it must be the hardest conversation to have with a family," she says. "With a cancer like Josephine's, you're not going to fix that problem, the focus changes to symptom control, keeping her comfortable and making the last few months or weeks as best as you can in the right environment with the right people round them."

In the waiting room 67-year-old Azize is with her 44-year-old daughter Sara who's been bitten by her cat. It's a seemingly minor injury, but Sara has recently had radiotherapy for breast cancer and her immune system is very weak.

Azize has moved back from Turkey to be with Sara during her treatment. "I hadn't lived with my mother since I was 14," says Sara. "I allowed her to come over for her benefit - which in my mind that's how I justified it - but the reality was I really needed her help. So she came over...only your mother can mother you."

Meanwhile five-year old Olivia is having stitches on a head wound with her dad and 12-year-old Mattheus is helping out by translating for his Brazilian grandmother who has injured her wrist.

The award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with a dramatic and eye-opening episode focusing on a single Saturday night at King's. Running resus for this extraordinary shift are two of the most experienced staff members in the A&E department.

Both mothers to young children, consultant Emer and senior sister Jen are in the twilight zone together as they deal with drug users and drunks, plus a stabbing victim with the knife still in place and two young people who were injured whilst out enjoying themselves with friends.

8-year-old Pharell fell eight feet onto concrete while riding his BMX. He's lost his front teeth and may have injuries to his head and spine. As Pharell slips in and out of consciousness, Emer and the team are working to keep him stable and find out if he needs emergency surgery. "It's a bit like a swan, " says Emer. "You're calm on the outside because that's what everyone needs you to be...they need you to be calm and confident and look as if it's all going to be fine," she says.

As Emer battles to keep Pharell alive, she reflects on how her work in the A&E department has changed her as a person and as a mother: "I stand in the playground surrounded by all the other mums and all I see is the things they can injure themselves on," she says. "You see all the sharp corners on things, you see the gates that aren't closed, you just live in a world where injury is a reality and an expectation as opposed to a surprise. And that's why we're not normal because it's normal to us to have people stabbed, shot, falling off bikes and trying to die from pneumonia on a Saturday night."

Also in resus is 19-year-old Dalvin who was heading to the West End to meet friends when his motorbike hit a street bollard. He has a deep five-inch gash just above his knee. Emer and Jen need to treat him immediately - and clean out the wound - as Dalvin is danger of losing his leg.

His dad, Freddie, is at his bedside: "As a dad sometimes you have to try and let go, because your children will start to think you don't want them to grow up. Every time he moves off on that bike my heart is a bit scared. "

As the night wears on, the Saturday night drink and drug casualties begin to roll in. Some of them have taken GBL, a popular clubbing drug known as "coma in a bottle". Jen was a nurse in London's nightclubs for many years and has seen the perils of GBL.

"I guess the drugs have changed, years ago it would be pills, it would be coke, you would probably get some ketamine as well," she says. "And then it all changed, we started to get GBL. One minute they're fine, next minute they are on the floor."

As dawn approaches, there's another red phone emergency case. A stab victim arrives at King's with the knife still in place. For the last patient of their shift, Emer must X-ray the patient - and the knife - with some startling results.

The award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with an illuminating and poignant episode focusing on some of the elderly patients who are treated at King's College Hospital, including a 93-year-old war veteran who arrives with life-threatening injuries after being knocked over by a hit and run driver just outside the hospital.

Ernest was walking to get his pension when he was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road. He's rushed straight to resus, conscious but with injuries to his head and pelvis.

Consultant Malcolm and his team are determined to do everything they can to keep Ernest alive: "You can't bracket people into ‘all 90-year-olds should be treated like this', because there are some 90-year-olds that are fighting fit," says Malcolm. But there are issues when treating older patients: "Your ears do prick up because you think ‘93-year-old guy was struck by a car in a hit and run that didn't stop, this is going to be harder than a 20-year-old'".

But as the team tend to Ernest's injuries, his heart fails and he goes into cardiac arrest. Malcolm needs to keep Ernest's heart going manually before his injuries can be assessed and he can be treated.

Ernest's niece, Maureen, arrives to hear the terrible news that her beloved Uncle is critically ill: "He brought me and my sisters up because we didn't have our dad around, he's like a dad to us. He bought me my first push bike, taught me how to ride it. He just used to come around, have dinner with us always on a Sunday...I couldn't believe it."

On the same day, 83-year-old William's finger is mangled and bleeding after he caught it on a machine at his metal working business. He's not been to see a doctor in over forty years and, like many older patients, he's worried that, despite his injuries needing urgent attention, he's a burden to the NHS and apologises to the team treating him at King's.

"To be honest with you, the way things are, forgive me for saying so, I reckon a high percentage of people just waste the doctors' time, all they want is a few pills to pep them," says William.

He was born in the year of the Wall Street Crash and at 83 still loves working: "My observation is that a number of people that have retired and not had a stimulus.... I'm afraid that quite a number of them by my acquaintance have sunk into oblivion."

Another octogenarian who arrives at King's is 80-year-old Joyce. But she's not the patient, it's her son, Kevin, who collapsed at home. 51-year-old Kevin has learning difficulties and Joyce is fearful about what Kevin's life will be like once she passes away, so strong is the bond they've formed. "It's something you have all your life, you worry in case you did something that made him like he is and you worry about what happens to him after I die."

RTS award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with a powerful and distinctive episode following the work of King's College Hospital's A&E department on the night that singing superstar Whitney Houston died aged 47.

"We know our own mortality," says Senior Sister Jen. "But when anybody dies quite young, it's sad, and I think everybody's got an affinity with Whitney, we've all danced to one of her songs". As staff and patients alike come to terms with Whitney's untimely death, King's is filling up with young people who were having fun with their friends when disaster struck.

21-year-old Danielle is on her first trip to London from Northern Ireland for a girls' weekend with best friend Leanne. But, before her flight, she collapsed after an exercise class. Danielle didn't want to postpone her trip, but now she's hundreds of miles from home and seriously ill.

Leanne, a newly qualified nurse, quickly realises the gravity of the situation: "She didn't know how sick she was, but I did. I kept thinking ‘All this happened from doing exercise, how did it come to this?'"

Registrar Swetha is concerned that Danielle's kidneys may be failing - and that Danielle herself is in serious danger: "It's not just one organ that could be affected by a failing kidney, lots of organs can be affected. It could even lead to a cardiac arrest."

As Danielle's health deteriorates, a new patient arrives in resus in a critical condition. He fell twenty feet from a balcony, hitting his head as he landed and has been rushed to King's by the Helicopter Emergency Medics (HEMS). Consultant Jeff is concerned that, as well as broken bones, he may have suffered brain injury. His mum can do nothing but watch and wait while the team tries to determine how serious his injuries are and if they will be permanent.

In minors, trainee doctor Josh is treating 34-year-old Latoya who was out partying with friends and dancing to Whitney Houston hits when the straps on her platform heels gave way and she fell over. Latoya blames her shoes and the late singer's songs for the deep gash on her forehead and wants Josh to make the stitches as neat and fine as he can if she's going to achieve her dream of being "the second Whitney".

RTS award-winning documentary series 24 Hours in A&E continues with a tender and insightful episode focussing on young men in their prime. One is a fitness fanatic who arrives seriously injured after a canal barge accident, while another is a pre-operative transsexual with a sore finger following a night's clubbing.

Nineteen-year-old Josh is flown to King's College Hospital in south London by air ambulance having been crushed between a barge and a bridge while working on a canal. "If someone's been crushed they could have literally anything damaged or destroyed within them," says A&E consultant Firas.

Firas and his team set to work on the teenager. Once he's out of immediate danger their attention turns to a potentially life-changing injury - and every man's worst nightmare - a possible penile fracture.

Despite their own fears, Josh's mum and dad attempt to lighten the atmosphere by cracking jokes, but for nurse Leanne it's no laughing matter: "In the back of your mind you're thinking: You know, it might not be funny in the long run, because it could be something serious. He's only nineteen. He's probably going to want a family..."

In minors, best friends Liam and Nicola are recovering from a Sunday night out clubbing. But an injured finger isn't Liam's only concern. He's also thinking about his upcoming gender reassignment, which will require hormones and - eventually - surgery.

"It was when I was going through puberty that I really noticed something was wrong," explains Liam. "Girls were growing in a certain way and I wasn't. And then it all kicked in: I'm in the wrong body. Back in October I decided I want to live as a woman full-time."

Liam says that surgery will make him feel complete: "Hopefully life will be a lot easier for me to deal with and I'll be able to look in the mirror and really enjoy what I see."

Meanwhile, in resus eighty-year-old Jean has been brought to King's by ambulance after collapsing at home. Jean has terminal cancer; she's exhausted and anaemic: "I feel so ill this week. I'm such a worry to everyone. I won't let my husband do things and he gets cross. He's right, always."

Jean's husband, John, is her greatest support. "You're everything, aren't you?: the nurse, the chef," says Dr Catherine. Jean and John have been together for over sixty years: "We met at school," says John. "She was the prettiest girl there!" It's their tender, supportive relationship that helps them to cope. "He deserves a medal," says Jean.

The new series of RTS award-winning 24 Hours in A&E continues with a warm-hearted and moving episode exploring the different ways that grown men deal with pain and injury.

"People respond to pain in different ways," says King's College Hospital A&E consultant Chris. "You have very quiet people who don't say much. You can [also] have screaming, yelling and abuse."

Nurse Laura adds: "Often women are a bit more sensible in that they've taken pain killers, they've done something about it. Men usually haven't taken anything or done anything."

50-year-old builder Jim is screaming in agony as he arrives in resus by ambulance. His screams can be heard throughout the entire A&E department, despite him having three times the normal amount of pain relief.

Jim's fallen backwards down a two-foot hole at work, but he's managed to dislocate his shoulder in such an unusual way that even consultant Chris hasn't seen the like in thirty years of emergency medicine and it takes a five-strong team of doctors and nurses to pull Jim's shoulder back into place. "If there's a male equivalent of childbirth, you've just been through it," Chris tells him.

"I'm a bit of a lump. Nearly six foot and people say ‘built like a brick shithouse'. It's embarrassing, isn't it? You come to hospital and you're screaming like a little girl," says Jim. "I've been stabbed, shot, hit with a baseball bat, knocked about a bit - I've earned my lumps and bumps. On a one to ten level, that was eleven. If that's the equivalent to childbirth, then God bless the girls!"

In minors, 30-year-old Temi is in with a broken toe, having mistaken a concrete block for a football. Temi growls and grimaces in pain, but he's much more concerned about whether the crutches he's given will match his sense of style. "We don't have cool canes," says nurse Laura. "This is the NHS!"

Also in minors are married couple Pat and Alan. Both in their sixties, they've spent just one day apart in 49 years and are stoical in the face of adversity. Alan had to have one of his legs amputated in 2009 and now, having just returned from holiday in Goa, the other leg is dangerously swollen.

They're worried that it may be Deep Vein Thrombosis after the ten-hour flight and that Alan risks losing his remaining leg. "I've only got one leg and I want to look after it," says Alan. A new leg costs around £10,000: "It's cheaper to keep the ones you've got!"

Later in the day, two elderly patients are brought to King's. 83-year-old James has a cyst on his knee, but is in so much pain that he's refusing treatment. It's senior sister AnnMarie's job to persuade James to stay in overnight.

Meanwhile, 91-year-old Rose arrives with a suspected stroke. Rose is the only one of her large family left, all five brothers and five sisters have died. Senior sister Jen looks after Rose and reflects on her close relationship with her own grandmother and how she coped with her grandmother's death.

24 Hours in A&E offers a dramatic and revelatory insight into love, life and loss on the frontline of the NHS. Filmed around the clock for six weeks at King's College Hospital in South London, one of Britain's busiest A&E departments, each programme focuses on people treated within the same 24-hour period.

The new series of the RTS award-winning 24 Hours in A&E continues with a powerful and dramatic episode in which trauma consultant Simon deals with a stream of critically ill and seriously injured patients, while also helping their families come to terms with the fact they may lose their loved ones.

Working as one of King's trauma consultants, Simon says: "My path was probably marked out when my mum fell in love with one of the characters on a TV programme called Doctor in the House," he says. But over the next twenty-four hours, he and the King's A&E team, will also have to cope with the fallout from an extraordinary night of violence on London's streets.

First an unconscious patient arrives by HEMS, the helicopter emergency medics. 49-year-old Trudy has fallen down some stairs during a night out celebrating her new job with stepsister Sherry. Simon is concerned that Trudy may have brain damage. "Working in A&E makes you realise just how fragile life can actually be, that just in a moment of bad luck things can change very rapidly," he says.

Sherry desperately awaits news of Trudy's condition in the relative's room: "She's become my best friend, always will be. I don't look at her as my step-sister, she's my real sister in every way." Last year, Sherry's brother died suddenly and unexpectedly and she can't cope with the idea that she might lose Trudy too.

Also in resus are married couple Bea & George, both in their eighties. They've barely spent a day apart in 65 years. "The only time we parted was when I went to do a day's work," says George. But Bea's cancer - and now a suspected heart attack - forces both of them to face the possibility that they may not have much time left together.

The fear of losing a loved one is felt acutely by Jennifer who's in resus with her elderly father, Vincent, who has chest pains.

As Jennifer tends to her father, she finds herself caught in the middle of a busy night in resus, as King's sees the arrival of a series of young people who have been stabbed on the streets of south London.

As she witnesses the treatment of the second stab victim within twenty four hours - a ‘code red' requiring an immediate blood transfusion - Jennifer reflects on the challenges her own teenage son has to face and shares her fears for him and his future.

And as Simon reaches the end of his shift he talks about the desire that unites all the patients and relatives that he treats in A&E: "Time; sometimes that's all the families want and that's just the one thing you can't give."

The new series of the RTS award-winning 24 Hours in A&E continues with a heart-warming and emotional episode focusing on some of the youngest patients treated by King's College Hospital's A&E.

A quarter of all patients treated in King's A&E are children, and this episode follows some of their stories for the first time, as well as one of A&E's youngest and newest recruits, 27-year-old emergency medicine trainee, Matt. He's the first member of his family to go to university and pursue a career in medicine.

"Medicine's definitely not in the family. School's not even in my family - I was the first person in my family to do A levels. My parents run a takeaway just outside Liverpool. They know I work shifts, but I don't really think they know what I do," he says.

"People who do A&E as a career like the drama and they like the adrenaline. I love Resus, it's where the sickest people in the hospital are brought in, you have to juggle so many things and still manage to deal with whatever's going to come in next."

But this shift will prove to be a challenging one for Matt and the team The first trauma is 16-year-old riding enthusiast Ellie who's been airlifted to King's from Kent after she was thrown from her horse and crushed against a fence. Ellie arrives with no feeling down her left side and the team's first concern is that she may have serious spinal injuries.

Ellie's mum, Kate, can only wait and reflect as scans begin: "I wasn't there, and I'm always there and I'm always being told that I need to let go and let her do things for herself, because obviously she's old enough to do that and clever enough to do that. But I'm always there...this time I wasn't."

Dr Matt also meets pregnant Jill who arrives with intense pain after a sudden and severe haemorrhage. She fears that she might be losing her baby having suffered a number of miscarriages in the past.

In paediatric A&E, consultant Jacqui is treating heroic 4-year-old Destiny, who has a fishbone stuck in his tonsils from his lunchtime curry. And, after a long and intense shift, the deaths of two older patients make Matt reflect on family, mortality and coping with loss.

"Death is part of life and death is expected," he says. "But when it's a death that happens on your watch you take a step back and think ‘What could I have done?'"

24 Hours in A&E offers a dramatic and revelatory insight into love, life and loss on the frontline of the NHS. Filmed around the clock for six weeks at King's College Hospital in South London, one of Britain's busiest A&E departments, each programme focuses on people treated within the same 24-hour period.