This new documentary series, hosted by Five News presenter Kate Gerbeau, gives an insight into what goes on behind the scenes at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital. Based in Oxfordshire, Tiggywinkles is the biggest of its kind in the world. It is also unique, in that it specialises in rehabilitating Britain’s indigenous wildlife.

With 10,000 animal casualties admitted each year and a team of over 40 staff and volunteers on hand, Tiggywinkles has sprouted from humble beginnings. The veterinary clinic that started life operating out of a small garden shed now serves as the hub of wild-animal care in the UK.

The hospital has a policy to never turn any ailing creature away. Its ultimate goal is to nurse all injured animals back to health before releasing them into the wild. “Every animal that comes through the doors of Tiggywinkles is dying,” says co-founder Les Stocker, “and it’s our mission to give these incredible creatures a second chance at life.” Filmed day and night over a series of weeks, Wild Animal ER follows dedicated vets and volunteers as they tend to the full spectrum of Britain’s wildlife.

Boasting a team of some of the most highly qualified vets in the country, Tiggywinkles is ready for anything. Everyday duties include mending a frog’s broken leg, dressing a badger’s wounds and freeing a squirrel from a rat trap. In addition to these straightforward cases, the hospital also deals with emergencies out in the field. The Tiggywinkles ambulance service can respond to a call-out in seconds – allowing medics to tackle challenges such as rescuing a Muntjac deer stuck down a well.

In Monday’s episode, the vets face a double challenge when a Muntjac deer is admitted after being involved in a traffic accident. As well as having a broken leg, the deer is heavily pregnant. The only way to save its baby is to perform an emergency C-section. Also, veterinary nurses must treat a frisky frog with a fractured leg.

On Tuesday, Les Stocker puts his own safety at risk to rescue a deer that has caught its antlers in some cricket nets. Also, Kate takes a crash course in bird dentistry and revisits the injured Muntjac deer, who the nurses have named Donna.

Wednesday’s show sees Les get crafty while fixing a bird’s broken wing. He deftly fashions a splint from cardboard, glue and drinking straws. And it is the Tiggywinkles team to the rescue – armed with nets and loaves of bread – when a bevy of swans invades a nearby airfield. Also, the nurses give a grubby fox a much-needed shampoo and blow-dry.

On Thursday, there is a dramatic night-time rescue operation to save a badly injured deer. Veterinary nurses tend to a brutish badger who has been involved in some fisticuffs and is in need of medical attention. And 100 RAF pilots do their bit for the community when they visit Tiggywinkles to give it a spring-clean.

Friday’s episode features the delicate recovery of two cheeky jackdaws who find themselves stuck down a chimney. The budding sweeps are lucky enough to be rescued by Les himself. The vets try to get to the bottom of an unexplained spate of frog deaths. A hedgehog is treated to some hydrotherapy in the hospital’s new spa pool. And Tiggywinkles volunteers feed a hatful of hungry, orphaned rabbits.