BBC | Victorian Scotland | Joseph Lister

In 1856, Joseph Lister was a surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Surgery was risky at this time. Most patients developed infections and often died. At this time, doctors wrongly believed that bad air seeping out of open wounds caused infection. They called this ward fever. Because of this, they weren't so bothered about cleaning the hospital. Bedsheets were often stained with blood, surgical tools weren't cleaned, and nobody washed their hands. In 1864, Lister read about a French chemist called Louis Pasteur. Pasteur's work was all about very small cells called microorganisms, which live on objects and in the body, but can be removed. This gave Lister the idea that germs could be causing infections. He thought that sterilisation, which means getting rid of germs, could save lives. Now a surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Lister began experimenting with chemicals to sterilise the ward. He used carbolic acid to clean surgical tools, and insisted that his staff washed their hands and put clean sheets on beds. On the 12th of August, 1865, a 12-year-old boy called James Greenlees was taken to Lister's ward with a broken leg and a nasty wound. Should we remove the leg, Dr Lister? No. Today we're going to try something different. Reset the bone and clean the wound. After that, I'm going to put dressing soaked in carbolic acid on James's leg. This will keep the wound sterile. And it worked. Six weeks later, James was walking again with no sign of infection whatsoever. Lister's fellow doctors and nurses finally began to take him seriously. He would go on to invent a chemical spraying machine, which kept operating theatres sterile and free from germs. Lister had a huge impact on reducing deaths in surgery. That's why he's known to this day as the father of modern surgery.