Germ-Fighters Operation Ouch! Hospital Takeover

He's Dr Chris.

And he's Dr Xand.

-And we're... BOTH:

-..identical twins!

Well, we were until you grew your beard!

In this series, we're taking over

one of the biggest children's hospitals

in Europe - the amazing Alder Hey in Liverpool.

'We go head-to-head as we take on

'some of our hospitals' most important jobs.'

This isn't going well.

'Ouch And About hits the wards for more medical mysteries.'

That is a hole going inside your stomach.

Yes.

'And we meet our brilliant Ouch Patients,

'who come in for regular treatment.'

-Hi!

-We've hidden our lab in a top-secret location...

..and our experiments just...

got... HE BURPS

..bigger!

-Argh!

-You guys are crazy!

So, are you ready to join us? It's going to be out of this world!

-Take us down...

-BOTH:

-..back to Earth!

Coming up today on...

..Operation Ouch!...

'..we scrub up...'

-Oh, yuck!

-'..Hayden has heart surgery...'

-You've just joined the zipper club, is that right?

-Yeah.

-'..and there's a battle in the lab.'

-It's all over for the fungus!

-'But first...'

-In the emergency department,

the team are getting ready for their first patient.

What? Their first patient ever? I mean, what have they been up to?

They need to put a sign up. I mean, I would have thought

at least they would have seen some patients before. Totally bizarre!

-I just can't understand it...

-Let's go and meet them.

Our first patient for today

is five-year-old Evie, with blood on her face.

We was playing and then me nose was bleeding.

Ooh, that's one sore schnozzle.

When the blood come out, it come out all over me school dress.

Oh, no! How did it happen?

Evie and her mate Liam love hanging out in the park.

Me too! Yippee!

So they were excited when they saw some new exercise equipment.

Yes, brilliant, let's keep fit!

And lunge, and lunge, and lunge...

Liam was the first to have a go on the cross trainer.

Go, Liam! Feel the burn! Work it!

But, when Evie climbed on,

she slipped and the handle hit her on the nose.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

-Cut noses seem to run in this family.

Dad cut his as a kid, too.

Me brother threw a spade at me!

Yikes! Definitely avoid doing that at home.

Let's get Dr Naomi Simmons in,

because Evie has a few things to ask.

How long am I staying here?

Hopefully not very long, sweetheart.

Let's just have a little look up your nose.

How are you going to do that?

With a magic light.

-Will you just shine a light on it?

-Exactly, that's all I'm doing.

Excellent questions, Evie.

So, that nostril looks beautiful, and that nostril looks beautiful.

Good girl, Evie.

We'll get it all cleaned up and then we'll be able to see better exactly

what needs doing to close it up.

Dr Naomi has asked Nurse Linda to clean the wound...

Has the blood all cleaned up?

The blood is nearly all cleaned up.

..and to have a go at sealing it with butterfly strips.

These plasters might look thin, but they're very strong.

If this works, Evie won't need surgery.

What's the verdict, Doc?

Because of the position that it's in,

because it's wanting to almost pull itself open again,

it probably would be best for her

to come back to see the plastics doctors tomorrow morning.

So, Evie will have to come back tomorrow to see a surgeon.

They'll decide whether she needs

an operation to close the cut with stitches.

-DAD:

-She's got a school trip tomorrow, as well.

I don't want to miss it!

-DR NAOMI:

-What time is it?

-Nine o'clock.

Well, you might have to miss your school trip, Evie.

So, it's surgery or the school trip. Find out later which one it will be!

-Bye, Evie!

-Bye!

In hospital, it's not just doctors and nurses who help to get you

-fixed.

-There are lots of other heroes working behind the scenes.

Ah, yes!

'What will happen when we have a go at their amazing jobs?'

I'm going to make your eardrums burst!

Useless!

This is Operation Takeover.

Today's Hospital Heroes are Pat, Sue and Lindsey,

who are part of the cleaning or domestic services team.

It's not just doctors and nurses helping save lives.

Without these hospital heroes keeping this place spotless,

infection could spread and put patients at risk.

How much of the hospital has to be cleaned?

-All of it.

-And how much hospital is there to clean?

Well, the floor area is bigger than seven football pitches.

-Really?

-Yeah.

'Wow! And everything in this hospital has to be kept super-clean,

'including this bath.'

So, Pat, every bathtub I've ever used has had, like,

a line of dirt all the way around here. Isn't that every bathtub?

Not in here, it's not. Not with us domestics!

And it's not just baths that need buffing.

The floors need a good clean, too, and there's a special technique.

You have to do a figure eight.

-So as you're doing it, you're taking all the bits up as well.

-OK.

'Time for us to get stuck in.'

What do you think of Chris's technique?

-Yeah, very good.

-Are you just being nice?

-No.

-It wasn't as graceful as you.

It wasn't stylish, but it got the job done!

-You have a little go.

-Here we go, this is what I'd do.

DR XAND HUMS

-That was terrible!

-What was wrong with it?

-Pat?

-Well, the floor's wet, you could slip.

But marks for style, out of ten?

Seven.

One of the most important places

to keep germ-free is the operating theatre.

Every surface, floor and wall gets cleaned twice.

Sue, you clean everything once and then Cathy cleans it again,

-and that's a deep clean.

-Yeah, that's making sure nothing's missed.

So, I start, and then Cathy comes after me.

The theatres are then closed

and no-one is allowed to enter before the surgeon.

We've seen how important it is to keep the hospital clean.

But which one of us is going to clean up

in the Hospital Takeover Challenge? Eh? "Clean up," get it? "Clean up?"

Our challenge is set by Lindsey,

who's an expert in cleaning babies' incubators.

-What's your challenge for us?

-My challenge is to clean an incubator,

where the premature babies go when they're really sick.

-Are these difficult to clean?

-Yeah, there's lots of nooks and crannies.

'Babies that need to be put in incubators are always vulnerable to

'infection, so it's crucial

'that their cots are completely germ-free.

'Lindsey must use a fresh cloth when working each section,

'to avoid contamination.'

We're getting our strategy sorted out for the cleaning challenge.

Xand, what strategy are you going to adopt?

Can you not distract me, please? I'm trying to focus.

Ready, steady, clean!

'This challenge is really difficult.'

Oh, come on!

'We have to dismantle the incubator AND put it back together!'

It's hard to clean the incubator when you can't take it to pieces.

OK, hang on, hang on, hang on. I've got this...

Ah! Yes!

Oh, yuck!

This dried milk is a bit harder to get off than I thought it would be.

Just harder.

-Harder?

-Yes, harder.

-You're never going to get finished!

-That's not helpful.

We've got to keep changing cloth.

I haven't changed my cloth in ten minutes!

You could eat your tea off this bit.

-Get a bit of spit on there?

-Is that allowed?

You're putting your germs on.

-That's bad.

-Ten, nine, eight...

'These incubators have to be germ-free.'

..five, four...

'And Lindsey has a special way of testing for germs.'

..one!

This incubator is ready to have a baby in it.

'I don't think so, Chris. It looks a bit wonky to me.

'Mm, maybe. But let's see whose is the cleanest.'

This machine detects the lowest number of germs.

Whoever's got the lowest score is the overall winner.

'Lindsey inspects the incubators to measure the muck.

'She takes swabs from various places,

'and when she puts them in the monitor,

'it gives a reading of how many germs are still present.'

There was two scores, 505 and 351.

The winner, with the lowest score, is...

..green.

I was robbed.

What score do you normally get, Lindsey?

Three or two.

So, will our incubators now be returned to intensive care,

for sick babies to be put into?

No, I'll have to clean them again.

We've made it a little easier for you...?

-Not really.

-Well, Chris,

I think it's clear the real heroes here are the domestic services

teams, like Lindsey, Pat and Sue,

who are helping to prevent infections all over the hospital.

'Time to hand back our aprons to the professionals.'

Meet Ruby, Hayden, Holly and Tola. We're following them

across the series as they let us know what it's like

to be a regular hospital outpatient.

They've given us exclusive access to their lives as they undergo

treatment. Let's catch up with our Ouch Patient Hayden.

-Hello, Hayden!

-Hello!

Hayden has Marfan syndrome, which has led to his heart

not working properly, so he needs heart surgery.

-Go get it, Buster.

-Last time, we met Hayden and Buster, the dog.

Hayden was at home getting ready to go to hospital.

But now it's nearly time for the big operation.

The surgeon who will be doing the op has come to see Hayden,

Mr Ramana Dhannapuneni.

-We'll put you to sleep.

-Yeah.

-Then you don't know anything whatsoever.

I'll probably forget where I even am.

-You probably will!

-The surgery will take around seven hours,

but to cheer him through, a crowd has gathered outside.

-That's not for Hayden, silly!

-Oh! Who's it for?

The Queen.

-The Queen?! Wow!

-More of that later.

For now, Hayden's getting his own VIP treatment in Theatre 5.

You may want to look away if you're squeamish, as you're about to see

Hayden's heart. Ready?

And here it is. How amazing is that?

Hayden's operation is to fix his aorta.

This is the main blood vessel

leaving your heart, and it's the biggest vessel in your body.

Because of his condition, the valve in Hayden's aorta is leaking.

Here comes Hayden's heart again, so look away if you're squeamish.

Mr Dhannapuneni inserts some plastic tubing in an attempt to repair

Hayden's aorta. If this fails, Hayden will need a mechanical

implant to make his heart work properly.

Remember I said the crowds are here for the Queen? Well, here she is!

She's come to officially open this brand-new Alder Hey Hospital.

While there are royal goings-on outside,

inside, Hayden is being treated like royalty himself.

And there's some good news from the operating theatre.

So, the operation went very well.

We managed to preserve the aortic valve really well, which gives him

a better quality of life, so he can play like any other kid.

'That's fantastic. Hayden may not have seen Her Majesty,

'but the next best thing to royalty has got to be us, surely?'

-Hayden, how are you doing?

-Good.

-And you've got your appetite back?

-Yes.

-How was dinner?

-Good.

-Is it?

-Amazing.

You've just joined the zipper club, is that right?

-Yes.

-And, hold on, who's this?

This is Buster, my puppy. He's been waiting for me to come home.

'Well, you'll be home soon, Hayden.'

Listen, guys, it's been very nice, but I want to eat my tea.

Right, Xand. We don't need telling twice.

-Very nice to see you, Hayden.

-Enjoy your sausages.

-What you want is patients that throw out their doctors.

-Exactly.

That's good news.

'Find out how Hayden's recovery goes later in the series.'

Time to head back to the emergency department to see how our patient

-is getting on.

-Come on, Chris!

Xand, it's that way.

Come on, Chris!

Earlier in our emergency department, we had a nosy at Evie's cut nose.

She'd been playing with her mate Liam in the park on some outdoor

-exercise machines.

-But when Evie climbed on,

she slipped and the handle hit her on the nose.

Evie's come to see the surgical team

to find out if she needs an operation.

-Luckily, Dr Susie Yao "nose" what to do.

-What's the plan?

What I need to do is have a really quick look. Is that OK?

Dr Susie needs to work out if the butterfly strips have done a good

job or whether Evie needs stitches.

With this type of cut, both options will leave a small scar,

just like her dad's.

A scar can happen when skin heals after a cut.

Healthy skin is made up of cells and proteins arranged in a crisscross

pattern. It's called the extracellular matrix.

When you get a cut, sometimes scar tissue forms,

when the cells and proteins heal in a straight pattern, and it can

make the skin look shiny or a different colour.

Evie is hoping to avoid having an operation,

because she has a school trip to get to which starts in an hour.

Do you know what? That's done very, very well.

They've done a really, really good job of basically bringing the cut

together, so actually, I'm not really worried about it.

Hooray! Evie's avoided surgery.

-DAD:

-Looks like you might make your trip, Evie.

With a quick clean and brand-new butterfly strips,

Evie should just about make it.

Well done, you, OK?

Next time you see gym equipment in the park, what are you going to do?

Not go on it.

I was thinking just be more careful.

-Bye!

-Bye!

-BOTH: Bye, Evie!

'Still to come...'

I am Lymph Node Man!

-'..Holly's back in Ouch Patients...'

-Hi, everyone.

'..and find out why I'm wearing this.'

Wow!

Did you know that you have between 20 and 40 billion white blood

-cells in your body?

-They are like an army of germ-fighting warriors

waiting to attack invaders like viruses and bacteria.

'And now to our lab,

'but this time we've hidden it in a top-secret location.'

'So secret that even Xand doesn't know where it is.'

What are you doing?!

'It's time for some amazing experiments.

'Just don't try ANYTHING you see here at home.

'Today, we're finding out how your immune system works.'

-How are you feeling, Chris?

-Fine.

-Well, your temperature's normal.

-Didn't feel anything in your neck.

-Of course my temperature's normal.

-Open up.

-I'm not ill.

-Say, "Ah".

-Ah.

Looks all right to me. I don't think there's anything wrong with him.

-There isn't anything wrong with me. I'm not ill.

-Why didn't you say so?

I did say so. I...

Now, when you've been ill, you might have had the doctor

do checks on you just like the ones I just

did on Chris. The reason for that is that this area is full of lymph

nodes, or glands, that get swollen when you get an infection.

By feeling them, you can tell if someone's ill.

Your immune system is a network of cells,

tissues and organs that work to protect your body from infection.

Your lymph nodes are a really important part of this network,

so let's take a look at one over here.

This is from a pig, but it's very similar to your lymph node.

You have lots of lymph nodes like this, some in your neck but also

in your groin, your armpits, behind your knees

and, in fact, spread all over your body.

Now, most of yours are much smaller than this,

-smaller, in fact, than a pea.

-They may be small, Chris,

but these little lymph nodes have a big job to do.

Now, they're packed with white blood cells, or leukocytes,

and these are the super cells of your immune system that fight off

bacteria, viruses and fungi that can make you ill.

So, any bugs that get filtered

and sent to the lymph node are dealt with.

And you wouldn't want to mess with a leukocyte, let me tell you.

That's right, Xand. And you're about to find out exactly how tough these

bug-fighting cells really are.

I'm going to take a sample of Xand's blood

and infect it with a very nasty fungus.

And we're going to watch your white blood cells, or leukocytes,

-fight the bad fungus off.

-Take my arm and take my blood.

And while you do, I will address the troops.

I mean the cells.

Cells, I expect... PATRIOTIC MUSIC PLAYS

..that every one of you will do your duty.

We shall fight them in the lymph nodes,

we shall fight them in the spleen.

But we shall never surrender.

'Er, OK, Xand.'

So, here is a sample of Xand's blood, complete with leukocytes.

And here is a sample of very nasty fungus.

Well, mix them together, let battle commence.

No, Xand, because we can only do this in a specialised infection

-laboratory.

-I've got one of those in the cupboard.

In that case, you can take them.

'And a few hours later...'

Chris, I've got it!

The video of the battle between the fungus and my leukocytes.

'Let's put it on!'

OK, so we can see a sped-up version of the fungus

and Xand's white blood cells.

The green blobs, they're the deadly fungus.

And the grainy black and white cells are Xand's leukocytes.

Go, you greens!

-No, Xand, the green ones are the fungus.

-Right. Don't go, you greens!

Now, have a look closely at this guy.

He's moving around, he's getting more and more angry,

and he's surrounded that little bit of fungus.

And he's phagocytosed him!

He's eaten him! It's all over for the fungus!

Look at Xand's leukocyte moving in and gobbling up that nasty fungus.

Wow! That's my immune system at work. Amazing!

I have to hand it to you, Xand, that was pretty impressive stuff.

Seems like your leukocytes were made of tough stuff after all.

We've shown that your lymph nodes are a really important part of your

immune system...

..and that they're packed with leukocytes to fight off nasty bugs.

So, the next time they pop up in your neck or feel a bit swollen,

remember to thank them for looking after you.

Yes, because they may be small in size but they're practically

superheroes, because inside each lymph node is a strong army

of leukocytes, ready to fight off invaders any time they appear.

Isn't that right, Xand?

-Xand?

-Who is this Xand you speak of?

I am Lymph Node Man!

Ah, well, in that case, you're in luck, Xand. I mean Lymph Node Man.

I saw a load of bacterial and fungal invaders heading that way.

-How nasty were they?

-Very nasty.

I have to change my cape.

Now let's catch up with our next Ouch Patient.

Hi, everyone, it's me, Holly, again today.

Nine-year-old Holly has cerebral palsy.

This effects her muscle control and movement.

Last time, Holly showed us how she gets about at home.

Today, Holly is going to physio.

I do physio every day, but I see my physio every week.

Holly comes to the clinic here at Alder Hey in the community

to see her physiotherapist, Rosemary.

Right, the next ones are like mini sit-ups.

These exercises help improve Holly's movement.

Good control! Double high five on that, well done! That was great!

We look after the body, but, mostly,

we want to make sure the kids can do what they want to do in the way they

-want to do it.

-I'm really happy with how it went because I've been able

to move my legs and my hip a lot easier, so that's really good.

Wow! This looks brilliant. How often do you get in the pool, Holly?

I go swimming every Thursday after school.

The pool means Holly gets some great exercise, plus it's lots of fun.

My favourite thing to do is front stroke.

Last week I did 150 metres in 40 minutes.

That's cool.

That was harder than you think it is.

Looked pretty hard to me.

But it makes me feel kind of free,

especially when I've been stuck in a chair all day.

When you get out into this pool,

there's so much space and you can move everywhere, you know.

-Nice one, Holly.

-See you next time!

Every second of every day,

your brain is choosing what to ignore and what to pay attention to.

But we all hear, see and feel the world in different ways.

There's one condition, though, that really impacts how

you communicate with people around you and sense

the world. It affects over one in 100 people

and it's called autism spectrum disorder, or autism, for short.

'This is Alex. He's ten and he has autism.'

So, Alex, if you have to explain to people what it's like for you having

autism, what do you say?

It can cause me a lot of difficulties in day-to-day life...

..because I absolutely loathe crowds and busy areas

and people brushing past me.

Someone with autism is on the autism spectrum. This is like a scale,

and different people are affected in different ways.

We've come to the park and set up an experiment to demonstrate how Alex's

autism affects his senses.

What I've done is I've labelled the faders,

which are like the volume knobs, with different sounds.

And these are all the sounds we can hear around us.

And when you're talking, I know there's a bit of traffic,

there's some birds singing,

I can hear the kids playing over there, there's a dog barking.

But, mainly, I can hear you,

and my brain can just turn all these other sounds off.

Can you show me maybe what it's like for you?

I don't have as much control over it, so I just move them all up.

But then I might be able to block those out a little bit.

But I can't block them out anywhere near as much as you did.

'Being overloaded with all this sensory information can lead to

'something called a meltdown.'

What's it like when you're having a meltdown in your head?

Well, I just sort of...

get really...kind of...

..upset and angry and I suppose distressed, and then I'm

really not calm.

'Although autism can be disorientating and confusing,

'some autistic people are able to concentrate incredibly well

'on something they love. And, for Alex, that's film-making.

'We've come to the Autism Show in Manchester.

'With us are some of Alex's friends who often act in his films.'

What do you think it is about autism and directing films that those two

things work quite well together?

Focusing on one task that he's doing at once.

Yeah, he's very focused and a lot of the time has better ideas than us.

'To help Alex's friends understand what it can be like to have autism,

'we're giving them these virtual reality goggles

'and headphones which will play an autism simulation.'

-Why don't you try it?

-Do you know,

I've never tried virtual reality before.

LOUD NOISES

I can hear every single noise in this room.

And the light is very dazzling.

I can't focus on the thing I think I need to be paying attention to,

this lady who's telling me to wait,

but I can't understand what she's saying.

Wow! What did you think of it, Jacob?

It was really intense of what was going to happen next.

It's very overwhelming, like, you can't concentrate on one thing,

because there's just so much going on.

I thought it explained to me a lot more about how being autistic is,

and it was, yeah, stressful.

You might know someone with autism, you may have autism yourself,

but, even if you do,

it can be very hard to know what other people with autism are going

through. There are a few things you can do to help.

You can give people time, you can speak really clearly,

and you can remember that someone with autism may be experiencing

the world in a more stressful way.

Most importantly, autism isn't the main thing about anybody.

People on the autism spectrum can still do absolutely amazing things.

And I'm certain that, one day,

I'm going to be in the cinema watching a film directed by Alex.

In Accident and Emergency, there's another patient in need of help.

Is there? Well, let's go help him, come on! Come on!

Sat in Accident and Emergency is 15-year-old Ryan.

What's happened to your foot, fella?

The nail has come out of the nail bedding.

Ooh, that sounds pretty nasty, and it looks pretty nasty, too,

so turn away if you're squeamish.

-Told you so.

-But how exactly did this happen?

Ryan was having lunch in the school canteen.

-Ooh! What was on the menu?

-I'm coming to that, Xand.

He was with his mates, all enjoying their food.

Yes, OK, but what was he eating?

Just finished his chicken nuggets...

-Mm, nuggets!

-..and was stretching his legs out under the table.

Chris, this all sounds perfectly normal. Where's this story going?

It was all very normal until the boy sat opposite stood up to leave and

his bench fell on Ryan's toe.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

First up, it's over to X-ray.

-Toe-tally!

-Then to A&E to see Dr Alex Cleator.

Right, that's quite impressive, isn't it?

Probably need to clean that up and have a look.

Dr Alex gives Ryan some laughing gas to help numb the pain

while he cleans the wound.

Just take really deep breaths. You'll hear it hiss as you do it.

It can make you feel a little bit giggly, as well.

In three, two, one....

RYAN LAUGHS There it is! Works every time.

With Ryan suitably giggly,

Dr Alex can begin to clean up the dried blood

to get a better look at the injury.

-It's horrible, isn't it?

-I can't even see my foot.

THEY LAUGH

Dr Alex takes a look at the X-rays to see if anything's broken.

These are the bones of his foot and this is his big toe here,

as you can see. Actually, the bones underneath look OK.

So it's just the actual damage to the nail bed.

So, Ryan's toe is bandaged up without the need for an operation.

Crutches forward, little hop, that's it.

And again. Both together.

-That's it, Ryan, hop! BOTH:

-Bye!

'Next time on Operation Ouch Hospital Takeover...'

'The lights are on!'

-Are you all right?

-'..Xand takes a closer look...'

We're making, if you like, an X-ray movie.

'..and what has this... got to do with your body?'

-So we'll see you next time for more...

-BOTH:

-Operation Ouch!

TYRES SQUEAL

Chris? Chris!

No, do it properly, do it properly. OK?

I challenge you... I challenge you to a clean-off.

-Ow!

-Ow!

-Ow!

-Stop that!

-Ow!

Operation Ouch!