In the worst hours of the pandemic, frontline medical staff were rightly celebrated for their valiant effort (then and every day). And yet they find themselves in an acute crisis. Our public health system is stretched to the limits, with patients waiting in hallways and ambulances ramping outside.
Set against this background, three high-profile Australians with a strong family connection to the public health service go behind the headlines to discover what it’s really like on the front line at Sydney’s St Vincent Hospital in gripping, three-part documentary series, The Hospital: In the Deep End.
Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis said goodbye to his dad in this very place, while MasterChef judge Melissa Leong’s mum was an emergency room nurse. And then there’s The Secret Life of Us star Samuel Johnson. He developed a phobia of hospitals after his sister experienced cancer when they were kids. Co-founding the charity together, she tragically died at 40. Johnson has also struggled with drug and alcohol dependency and he spent ten weeks in hospital after being hit by a car.
“You know, I’ve been sharing my sister’s narrative for many years now, and I feel a bit naked doing Sam stuff,” he says of baring his soul on the show. “Thankfully, everyone at St Vincent’s and SBS were sensitive at all times, so it never became overwhelming.”
The Hospital: In the Deep End - L-R Samuel Johnson, Melissa Leong and Costa Georgiadis. Credit: SBS
As Johnson saw it, his participation in The Hospital: In the Deep End, working shifts in the alcohol and drug service, oncology and St Vincent’s game-changing psychiatric emergency care centre, was close to the bone. “It’s a project where I had to either go there or not,” he says of confronting his demons. “It’s my story. I’ve always had a no-holds-barred approach to things and everyone in this land has a pretty good bullshit radar. I couldn’t get away with pretending to be someone else.”
He’s hit rock bottom and rebuilt from there. “My criminal record is three and a half pages long,” Johnson says. “I’m in a great place now, but I didn’t necessarily come from one, so I felt like I had something to bring to the show. When I was 23, I was what my drug and alcohol counsellor called a poly-user, dependent on nearly everything. There was the drugs and the alcohol, but there was also sugar, guzzling energy drinks and fast food.”
Johnson maintains a usage diary to this day and focuses on the things he loved as a young man, whether that’s binoculars, photography, bike-riding or twirling the diablo. “All that exercise is part of my self-care,” he says. “I didn’t magically end up here. I did a lot of work, so I felt like I belonged in this documentary.”
Samuel Johnson with Dr Vanessa Chin at St Vincent’s Hospital Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Sydney Lab. Credit: SBS / Smashing Films
He was awed by the fortitude of the frontline staff he was privileged to work beside. “It’s hard not to use the H-word and call them heroes, because they’re underpaid, under-resourced and they’re at the coalface keeping numpties like me alive. Hospitals are the true crux of humanity.”
His frank conversations with patients at St Vincent’s experiencing similar issues clearly have a significant impact, though Johnson remains humble about how his radical honesty can help others. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself and think that this changes anything, but it might help a little,” he says. “It’s pivotal that we talk about this and help lift stigma. I’ve done mental health presentations in more than 1000 towns and the stigma is lifting. I’m watching it lift. And I’m proud to play a very small part in that.”
Through his charity work, Johnson travels extensively around Australia, including visiting rural towns that aren’t as equipped St Vincent’s. “I spend a lot of my time in regional and remote areas, and there is clear inequity in the public health system. It’s not something I take for granted. I hope it’s here in another 40 years. I’m not a specialist and have no right to speak for them, but the system is under a lot of pressure.”
From these travels, Johnson recalls one older gentleman sharing a heart-wrenching story about his father’s suicide he hadn’t even told his wife. “I’ll never forget it,” he says. “I talked at that presentation about my girlfriend opting out, and he just wanted me to know he was going home to tell his missus. I hope that together, we can reach people like that, who hold on to something so momentous for five decades and tell no one.”
It’s why Johnson firmly believes that hearing the stories of frontline providers and their patients in The Hospital: In the Deep End is so essential. And that includes looking after their mental health, too. “They’re exhausted, with not much of a home life and often with their own self-care and the toilet, by their own admission. I would never accuse them of that. I asked them about it, and they all laughed. They’re notorious for caring for others and not for themselves.”
Melissa Leong and Samuel Johnson take a break and compare their experiences so far at St Vincent's Hospital, during filming for 'The Hospital: In The Deep End'. Credit: SBS / Smashing Films
Johnson appreciated being able to debrief with Leong about her mum’s experiences and he catches up with Georgiadis whenever he’s back in Sydney. “He picks me up in his car at 6am and we go for a swim in the ocean together. I pride myself on my bodyboarding, but I get but I get nowhere near him. I tease him it must be because he’s got all that hair keeping him afloat.”
So much of Johnson’s time on the show boils down to that: helping others to keep themselves afloat. “That’s why this SBS show’s so important,” he says. “We have to talk with the people in our direct circle about these things that were previously taboo. Maybe you’re hiding your stress a bit. Maybe that’s coming out in funny ways. Because that openness to me is critical, and if you start with yourself, you have the chance of that having a ripple effect.”
The Hospital: In The Deep End premieres on Thursday 6 June on SBS and . The three-part series airs weekly with episodes one and two airing on SBS at 8:40pm and episode three airing at 8:30pm. Each episode will be available to stream from the day it airs. The Hospital: In The Deep End will be subtitled on SBS On Demand in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. All episodes will be available with audio description.
