0:00:05 > 0:00:06Ladies and gentlemen,
0:00:06 > 0:00:11live from the 19th century at the heart of Her Majesty's Empire
0:00:11 > 0:00:15in the city of London, it's The Charles Dickens Show!
0:00:15 > 0:00:20Heeeeeere's Dickens!
0:00:20 > 0:00:21APPLAUSE
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Thank you, thank you
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and welcome back to another edition of The Charles Dickens Show.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30APPLAUSE CONTINUES
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Thank you, thank you.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Now today, we're going to be looking at a subject which is very dear
0:00:35 > 0:00:36to all our Victorian hearts.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39I'm talking, of course, about health.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42We're none of us getting any younger. HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:00:42 > 0:00:45When I was a boy, the Dead Sea was just sick.
0:00:45 > 0:00:46LAUGHTER
0:00:46 > 0:00:50It seems we're all of us living longer. Now how about this.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54The average life expectancy in Okehampton, Devon
0:00:54 > 0:00:57is an amazing 57 years old! APPLAUSE
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Isn't that fantastic, ladies and gentlemen?
0:01:00 > 0:01:04But in some areas of the country, it's still woefully low.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Liverpool - 26.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09CROWD GASPS It's terrible.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10But is it any surprise, really,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13when we're still being ravaged by disease?
0:01:13 > 0:01:16So are things getting any better?
0:01:16 > 0:01:20What's being done to rid our streets of these terrible diseases
0:01:20 > 0:01:22and improve the nation's health?
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Is there a doctor in the house? Ho ho, yes, we have aplenty.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30We have the cream of British medical talent with us.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33To begin with, we'll be joining Drs Guffquat and Lister
0:01:33 > 0:01:35at The Charles Dickens Show surgery.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36APPLAUSE
0:01:36 > 0:01:39HE SNEEZES
0:01:39 > 0:01:43They're here to answer your letters and quell your concerns.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And then we'll be hearing from Dr John Snow
0:01:46 > 0:01:52who's been hard at work trying to wrestle deadly cholera to its knees.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55APPLAUSE
0:01:55 > 0:01:56Today in the studio,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59two nurses who've travelled the world and torn up the rulebooks.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, they've rewritten them too.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Miss Florence Nightingale and Mrs Mary Seacole.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08- AUDIENCE:- Hurray!
0:02:11 > 0:02:15- Are you all right there, ladies? - Yes, thank you. - We'll be joining you later on.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18But first up, let's go over to the surgery
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and meet the esteemed military medicine man, Dr Guffquat
0:02:22 > 0:02:25who's joined by a young maverick, Dr Joseph Lister.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Dr Lister has been rocking some boats in the medical world
0:02:29 > 0:02:32by insisting that his surgeons...wash their hands.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Now, let's see how they can help you at home.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Hello and welcome to our new feature,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Ask The Doctor in which my colleague, Dr Guffquat...
0:02:43 > 0:02:44Oh, hello!
0:02:44 > 0:02:46And I, Joseph Lister,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49will attempt to answer all your medical quirks and queries.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54- So, Guffquat, old fellow, what's top of the pile?- What? Piles?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Oh, well, I prescribe a dose of blue pill and black draught.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02- No, no, what does the top letter say?- Oh, yes. Ha ha ha!
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Er, "Dear doctors, I wonder if you can assist.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10"When crossing the road after luncheon at the club yesterday afternoon,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13"I was struck down by an out-of-control hansom cab
0:03:13 > 0:03:16"whose wheel passed over my leg breaking it really rather badly.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18"What would you advise?"
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Well, Mr Collins, what I'd suggest is that you speak to a good surgeon
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and have him clean the wound very thoroughly
0:03:23 > 0:03:26with a solution of carbolic acid. He'll then be able to reset the bone
0:03:26 > 0:03:28- and have you on your feet in no time. - GUFFQUAT LAUGHS
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Now, look here, Collins. Lister's talking through his hat.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Cleanliness is the key.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35If you'd come to me, I'd have whipped it off in no time.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40I'd probably use a good rusty old... Er, trusty old saw
0:03:40 > 0:03:43like this one. That'd do the job.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45We'll have you hobbling about, or dead, in no time.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And you could try a dose of blue pill and black draught too
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- if you're having any trouble with constipation. - GUFFQUAT FARTS LOUDLY
0:03:52 > 0:03:56"Dear Doctor, yesterday I suffered from pains in my body
0:03:56 > 0:03:59"which overnight spread with alarming rapidity to the right-hand side.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05"I've gone off my food. Without being indelicate, I'm suffering a certain congestion of the bowels.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07"Any thoughts?" Well, um...
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Ah, now, you're in luck. My specialist subject.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12What you're suffering from is appendicitis.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18- HE FARTS - And it's serious. It's a real killer. So, here's the drill.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24Get yourself some of these. Leeches. And pop them on the skin
0:04:24 > 0:04:28as soon as you can so they can get to work, like this.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Come on, Lister.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31GLASS BREAKS
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Well, if you can't get your hand on any leeches, don't worry,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36- ask a friend to bleed you. Just a bit...- If I may interject,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39what I advise is immediate surgery.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41If it's left unattended, there's a chance it will burst.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Cleanliness of the implements is important
0:04:43 > 0:04:46as is cleanliness of the surgeon's clothes and his clean hands.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48You could try a dose of blue pill and black draught.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51No, don't do that. Get yourself to a surgeon quick-sharp.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- I say, Lister, were you having a pop at my coat?- No, of course not.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Though I wouldn't allow one of those in my operating theatre.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01What's wrong with it, man? It's got memories. Full of memories. Covered from head to toe.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- That's the problem. When did you last wash it?- Wash it?!
0:05:03 > 0:05:07That'd be unlucky. Look, see here. Captain Jennings.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12You see? Had his arm off at the elbow after an altercation with a cannonball during the mutiny.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17And up here, the late Lord Wilmore. Had a run-in with a stag.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Oh.... No, beg your pardon. That would be lunch yesterday.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Jolly good gravy too.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24It's disgusting, it's massively unhygienic and it reeks!
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Ah, yes. Good surgical stink.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28You see, keeps the diseases away.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30"Dear Doctor,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34- "My seven-year-old son, James..." - Ah, smallpox.- I don't...
0:05:34 > 0:05:35Dangerous thing, smallpox.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I once knew a man, caught it just from LOOKING at someone.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42- No, he didn't.- Yes, he did. - No, he didn't.- Yes, he did, it was his brother.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46He'd been nursing him for days and then looked at him and thought, "I feel a bit queer myself."
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Next thing, he was dead within a week.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Still, moving on. "Dear Docs,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54"I've been eating salted beef and biscuits for the past three weeks
0:05:54 > 0:05:58"and am now feeling exceedingly dicey and rather blocked up.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01"What would you prescribe?" Tricky one, this. Eh, Lister?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Blue pill and black draught.- Hmm.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07APPLAUSE
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Well, some differences of opinion there.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13And, viewers, I do hope you'll let us know how you're getting on
0:06:13 > 0:06:15and keep those letters coming in.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Now, most of you watching will remember
0:06:18 > 0:06:23London's terrible cholera epidemic of 1853 to 1854
0:06:23 > 0:06:26in which 11,000 people died.
0:06:27 > 0:06:3311,000 from one disease and in such a short space of time.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34Now, imagine, in this picture,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37the pile on the left is the number of people living in London.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41The pile on the right is the number of people
0:06:41 > 0:06:44who died of cholera during this one epidemic.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Nothing short of dreadful.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Well, next up, we're going to be hearing from Dr John Snow.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Dr Snow is a fearless physician who has declared war
0:06:55 > 0:07:00on contagious disease and has pledged to put cholera to the sword.
0:07:00 > 0:07:01Let's take a look.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03APPLAUSE
0:07:06 > 0:07:08I'm John Snow, I'm a physician.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And, as a medical man, two things really get me excited.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14First.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Anaesthesia. That's putting people to sleep.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21And I don't mean listening to Mr Dickens reading one of his stories.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Just kidding, Charlie.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I'm talking about stopping people feeling pain
0:07:26 > 0:07:28when they're having an operation.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30I've anaesthetised royalty on several occasions,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33so, believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Secondly.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38I'm interested in public health.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Especially when nasty diseases are concerned.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45It may be my bread and butter, but I hate the taste of epidemics.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50One of the most dangerous diseases we Victorians are facing is cholera.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53I'm sure we all know somebody who's kicked the bucket because of it.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56You know how it is. One day, you're fit as a flea,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00but the next, you're feeling sick and dizzy.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04'Then the vomiting begins. Poo turns to grey liquid.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08'Cramps set in and your thirst is unquenchable.'
0:08:10 > 0:08:12You might be in this place by sundown.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16But what was cholera?
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Where was it coming from? Why did it spread so swiftly?
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Seems we didn't know very much about this killer disease.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26I'd have to start with what we did know.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Welcome to my world.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33India.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Back in 1828, before our imperial majesty Queen Victoria
0:08:37 > 0:08:40was on the throne, there was a cholera outbreak
0:08:40 > 0:08:43that threatened to devastate the entire country.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47India is one of the world's central trading points.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50And the disease spread rapidly abroad.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Russia, China, Europe.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56And even to America.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Here, in Great Britain, the population of towns rocketed
0:09:00 > 0:09:02and that was just what cholera wanted,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04lots and lots and lots of people
0:09:04 > 0:09:07living in cramped, squalid conditions.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Everyone thought the disease was caused by bad smells.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14So, people tried to ward it off with smelling salts.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18'No, I had a hunch that this didn't make sense.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21'So, I started looking into one terrible outbreak.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23'Here, in the heart of London.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'There had been over 500 fatal cases in only ten days.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32'First, I marked all the deaths on a map.'
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Then, I started talking to local people
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and what I found out amazed me.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Cholera had taken lives willy-nilly.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Men, women, children, no-one was spared.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Except for the men who were working...
0:09:46 > 0:09:49here, at the Broad Street Brewery.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Not one of the 38 people working in this brewery
0:09:52 > 0:09:55had fallen ill from cholera. Why?
0:09:55 > 0:09:57What had kept them safe from its clutches?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00'I went back to the map.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02'And, suddenly, on Broad Street,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06'in the very centre of the outbreak, I saw it.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09'The answer had been staring me in the face.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11'A water pump!'
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Everyone who had died must have drunk from that one pump.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19What had saved the workers in the brewery here
0:10:19 > 0:10:21was what they were making.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24All day, every day, instead of drinking water,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26these men were drinking beer.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And when I investigated further,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I discovered that the well which fed the pump
0:10:31 > 0:10:37was next to an enormous, leaky cesspit, full of raw sewage.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42But five deaths threatened to demolish my theory.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45These five people lived much closer to a completely different pump,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48but they had still lost their lives to cholera.
0:10:48 > 0:10:49It didn't add up.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53What did these five victims have in common?
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I was determined to get the bottom of the mystery.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59My persistence paid off.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02One by one, as I spoke to their relatives,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06pieces of the puzzle began falling into place until, finally,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08I cracked the cholera riddle.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11These five people, although they lived closer to another pump,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14always went out of their way to fetch their water
0:11:14 > 0:11:16from Broad Street. Why?
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Because they liked the flavour.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Now, that's what I call bad taste.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25So, next time you have a nice glass of water,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28just be thankful it doesn't have the distinctive flavour
0:11:28 > 0:11:29of the Broad Street pump.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36And say a little thank you to Victorian science.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42APPLAUSE
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Wow. Terrific work there, John, well done.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Now, did you know that in the 1850s,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53over 400,000 tonnes of sewage were flushed into the Thames every day?
0:11:55 > 0:11:56Can you imagine that?
0:11:56 > 0:11:59No? Well, picture this.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03We worked out that this, Mr Barnum's Big Top circus tent, here,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06is 700,000 cubic feet.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09So, each day, we're currently tipping
0:12:09 > 0:12:13a whopping 15 whole Barnum and Bailey's Big Top's worth of poo
0:12:13 > 0:12:17into our capital's main waterway. Eurgh.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Is it any wonder that people are getting sick?
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Now, thankfully, even as we speak, our great Victorian engineers,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29such as Joseph Bazalgette, are building new sewers all over London.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31And, as Dr John Snow was saying just there,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34keeping sewage out of our lovely drinking water
0:12:34 > 0:12:38is a great start in the battle against infectious disease.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Now, next up on my show,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47I want to introduce you to two truly remarkable ladies.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51They have turned the male-dominated world of nursing on its head.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53They can count the commonest soldier
0:12:53 > 0:12:55and our own exulted Queen as their friends.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale!
0:12:58 > 0:13:00CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:13:02 > 0:13:08- Now, Mary, I hear you have your autobiography out.- Yes, indeed.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Here it is. LAUGHTER
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Oh, goodness me. It's one of mine.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15How on earth did that get in there?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Ah, yes, here it is.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22The Wonderful Adventures Of Mrs Mary Seacole In Many Lands.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23How's that doing for you?
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Well, Charles, I am pleased to be able to say
0:13:26 > 0:13:29that it's causing a bit of a stir in the bestseller charts.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Good for you, that's great news.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Oh, watch out, Mr Charles Dickens, I am coming for you.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36LAUGHTER
0:13:37 > 0:13:39(I don't think so.)
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Now, Florence, any books out this week?
0:13:42 > 0:13:44I do have books coming out all the time,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48but mine are practical handbooks for the nursing profession.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51They're not written with a view to topping the bestseller charts.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Heaven forbid a person would seek to do that.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00Now, as we know, you both came to fame during the Crimean War.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Of course, you both went out there with the same objective,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06to care for sick and wounded soldiers.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09But your approaches to nursing are very different, aren't they, Mary?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11You know, Charles, I think you're right.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12I think it's fair to say
0:14:12 > 0:14:15that I'm much more of a hands-on sort of nurse.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Not only did I raise the money to finance my travel
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and the food and medicine which I provided for our fighting men,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25but I also, literally,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29nursed the wounded where they fell on the field of battle.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30APPLAUSE
0:14:30 > 0:14:31Whereas you, Florence,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34were operating a little further away from the action.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37That's right. I was setting up and running
0:14:37 > 0:14:40an enormous military hospital in Scutari.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42I was establishing a system
0:14:42 > 0:14:44that would give better care to all the soldiers.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46APPLAUSE
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I'd like to talk, firstly, a little about your backgrounds.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Mary, what was it that made you want to go into nursing?
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Ah, well, Charles, it's in the blood.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58My mother was a doctress in Jamaica.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00- A doctress.- Yes.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02I like to combine what my mother taught me
0:15:02 > 0:15:05with what I've learned of modern medicine and surgery.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08From the slums of my father's native Scotland,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11to the swamps of the Panama Canal.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Military campaigns, epidemics, toothache.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- You name it, I've nursed it.- Ha-ha.
0:15:18 > 0:15:19Florence, how about you?
0:15:19 > 0:15:23A history of care. Was it a family business for you too?
0:15:23 > 0:15:24No, far from it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27My family were completely against my nursing
0:15:27 > 0:15:30and I had to, effectively, teach myself.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I toured hospitals throughout Europe and I read all I could.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Then, you can't have had much hands-on experience
0:15:36 > 0:15:37before going out to the Crimea?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40That's right. I had hardly any experience at all.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43And yet, you organised a whole party of nurses
0:15:43 > 0:15:46to travel out to Constantinople. That's very impressive.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Tell me, though, given that most of these nurses, presumably,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51had little experience,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55wouldn't it have been useful to have had someone like Mary along with you?
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Well, yes.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Mrs Seacole would have been a wonderful asset.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03But, Mary, as I understand it, you actually asked to join
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Florence's nursing party, but you were turned down.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Is that right?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Yes, Charles, there was a deal of shilly-shallying that went on
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and I never received an answer.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17You know, Mary, I'm very glad to have this opportunity
0:16:17 > 0:16:21to tell you face-to-face that I knew nothing of your application.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23I'd already sailed for Constantinople
0:16:23 > 0:16:26by the time your request was made.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Well, that's very comforting to hear, Florence.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33In the end, I just packed my bags and went anyway.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37So, Mary, you ended up travelling alone
0:16:37 > 0:16:41and you appeared on the battlefield with two donkeys, I understand.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45One carrying medicine, and the other loaded with food and wine.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Well, when you have faced great danger,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50you become very hungry and very thirsty too.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55- Tell us about your hotel. - No, no, no. It was not a hotel.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59It was a rest home for recovering soldiers.
0:16:59 > 0:17:05I gave them good food and a clean, dry place to sleep.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Now, I am not from a wealthy family.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I have always had to earn my own living.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13But I am proud to say
0:17:13 > 0:17:17that I have never overcharged a soldier in my life.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Splendid.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24Now, Florence, this hospital in Scutari, by all accounts,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26it was a bit of a mess when you got there.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- Oh, it was filthy, yes.- You cleaned it up, presumably?- We certainly did.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Although, things weren't helped
0:17:32 > 0:17:35by the fact that the hospital was built on top of a sewer.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- Oh.- And the sewer was blocked. - Oh, yuck.- Quite.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40The conditions there made me realise
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- that drastic improvements were needed.- Splendid.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Now, just before we finish, what have been the major advances,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50do you think, in medical science recently?
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Well, I would have to say, clean hands, clean implements,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59clean hospitals are going to save hundreds of thousands of lives
0:17:59 > 0:18:02in the future and really help in our fight against disease.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05I would certainly have to agree with Florence, there.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10And add that the encouragement of all those who have medical skills
0:18:10 > 0:18:14to contribute to health care, be they men or women,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18white or black, is, of course, real progress.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- Yes. Real progress.- Hmm.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23APPLAUSE
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Absolutely. Well, I'm afraid that's all we've got time for.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29It's time to say goodbye and thank all our doctors.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Dr Guffquat, Dr Lister,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33Dr Snow and, of course,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36the lovely Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:18:39 > 0:18:43We hope you'll be joining us in fine fettle next time.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Until then, I'd like to leave you with this thought
0:18:46 > 0:18:48from my American counterpart Mark Twain.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51AMERICAN ACCENT: "The only way to keep your health
0:18:51 > 0:18:53"is to eat what you don't want,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57"drink what you don't like and do what you'd rather not."
0:18:57 > 0:19:00See you next time. Thank you.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Good night, everybody.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd