Seven major Holby City secrets - name change, spin-off and real medical procedures

dailystar.co.uk:

Holby City fans were left devastated last year when bosses announced that hit medical soap Holby City would come to a close after an incredible 23 years on the airwaves.But there are plenty things even the most avid fan won’t know about the popular programme - including that its name wasn’t originally Holby City.As the emotional cast and audience prepare to bid farewell to the show, which first aired as a Casualty spin-off back in 1999, Daily Star takes a look behind the scenes.From a potential Holby spin-off show to the cast members learning real medical procedures for their roles, it’s all here as the show is axed after more than two decades.It might come as a shock that Holby City wasn’t always called Holby City - it originally had a very different name.Holby originally began as a spin-off from fellow medical drama Casualty when it launched in 1999.And its original title was actually Surgical Two.But it was eventually changed during the planning process to instead represent the fictional town where the hospital is set.It might come as a surprise to fans to discover that Holby City actors are actually given real-life medical training.And though the medical accuracy of the programme has been blasted by organisations like the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing, Holby City was credited with helping to save someone’s life in the real world.While real surgeons from various disciplines were hired to check over the scripts and a team of researchers are on the job to ensure Holby remains as accurate as possible, cast members are also taught to perform basic medical procedures.They’re also offered the opportunity to spend some time on real-life hospital wards to conduct research.But Sahira Shah star Laila.