Matron, Medicine And Me (Fern Britton)

Five famous faces with a very personal reason to thank the NHS go back to the hospitals that mean so much to them in order to meet patients and staff.

Seventy years ago a revolution took place that changed all of our lives in Britain. Its name - The National Health Service. In this series, we’re taking a look at the NHS then and now, to see how much it’s changed. And what’s stayed the same. Through the eyes of staff, patients, and their extraordinary medical stories.

This episode features Fern Britton, who returns to Stoke Mandeville hospital to retrace the dramatic story of how the NHS saved her life.

In 2016 whilst recovering at home from surgery, Fern was suddenly rushed into hospital and diagnosed with E.Coli and Sepsis. She was immediately brought into emergency surgery that ultimately saved her life.

It is estimated that around 200,000 people a year in the UK get Sepsis, and of those, up to 60,000 of them die. Many of these cases are avoidable but Sepsis is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It was only through the quick-thinking actions of the NHS staff, and the rapid diagnosis of her blood samples, that Fern survived.

She returns to the hospital to meet the surgeon who operated on her and the consultant who diagnosed her, to say thank you and find out more about the condition that nearly killed her.

When Fern came in, her samples were sent to the pathology lab for analysis. Fern visits one of the NHS’s busiest pathology labs, which process 70,000 samples a day, to find out how it works and what has changed over the years. She discovers that the NHS has been waging a war against infectious disease since it started 70 years ago.

But sophisticated medicine and vaccinations aren’t the only weapons being used. There’s also a far simpler and cheaper way of preventing the pathogens from spreading. Fern finds out how the NHS is fighting the war against superbugs though cleaning and gets a crash course from Head Nurse Shona Perkins on how they keep hospital clean.

Pictured: Fern with Geraldine Tasker, the surgeon who saved her life

Publicity contact: PC