Heather stars in major TV series

‘Emergency Nurses’ follows the working lives of a group of millennials working in Northwick Park Hospital, London, including its large community of Irish nurses.

A film crew spent several months embedded in the department, seeing the important role played by young nurses and healthcare assistants in the NHS.

Its cast include senior sister Heather Wilkinson who grew up in Lisburn left school at 17 to train as a nurse.

The 31 year-old is the department’s youngest Senior Sister and often assumes the position of ‘helicopter nurse’ in charge of A&E.

Heather said: “You’re right on the frontline. You’re right there with the drama and have to be ready for anything that walks through the door.’

“I like a job where I feel I am making a difference even if it is a small one like making a patient a cup of tea.”

One family member who helps her get through the tough times is four-year-old dog Toff.

“People at work who don’t know me that well will hear me talking about Toff and say ‘Oh, I didn’t know you had children’.”

Hospital Chief Executive Pippa Nightingale said: “We often see senior NHS figures appearing on TV and it’s quite right to highlight the work of our younger colleagues.

“They have made an extraordinary contribution during the past two years and it’s important for the public to see the pressures they face every day.

“The NHS is in safe hands with people like them, and I’m proud that their work is being shared with a wider audience.”

Emergency Nurses is now showing every Sunday at 8pm on ITV2.