In the first episode Stacey works as a healthcare assistant, changing beds and cleaning bed pans on the liver ward, as she explores how lifestyle illnesses impact the NHS. Ann works alongside nurses in the busiest department - urgent care - to explore why the health service is under such pressure. Jonnie is a theatre assistant in surgery to understand the demands on the operating teams, and Michael, who trained as a doctor in the 1980s, gets hands-on in A&E to see if it is tougher now than it was then.
In the second episode Ann tackles the bed crisis head-on by becoming a bed manager, Stacey discovers how heart attacks are affecting the NHS, and Michael finds out what stops junior doctors working in the maxillofacial department from leaving, despite facing up to 18 years of training before they can become a consultant. Plus, Jonnie explores how hospitals look after their most vulnerable patients - emotionally, as well as physically.