Doctor Who? UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 14 Nov 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Elementary my dear Britons. Dr Watson - the sidekick of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes - is sadly more well-known to the average Brit than many real-life medics that have actually made a genuine difference to people's lives.

New research* from health insurer BCWA reveals nearly one in six people (59%) correctly identified Watson in strong contrast to such important British healthcare figures as Sir Alexander Fleming (51%), Joseph Lister (20%), Edward Jenner (15%) and even nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (37%).

But despite messrs Fleming, Lister and Jenner changing the world of healthcare forever by pioneering penicillin, sterile surgery and the smallpox vaccine respectively, the findings suggest an appreciation of their advances is fast becoming forgotten.

Even Dr Kildare - the fictional surgeon famously portrayed by Richard Chamberlain in the 60s' TV series - was correctly identified by almost half (47%), ahead of all but one of the real medical figures featured.

Fictional characters such as Dr Frasier Crane (43%), Casualty's Nurse Duffy (30%) and Hugh Laurie's Dr Gregory House (30%) are also more widely known than both Lister (20%) and Jenner (15%).

Surprisingly, only a third of Brits (37%) were able to correctly identify 'Lady with the Lamp' Nightingale as a pioneer of modern nursing, while fewer than one in 10 (9%) were aware that Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain.

And nurse Mary Seacole, who overcame racial prejudice to help the wounded in the Crimean War and was eventually recognised after almost 100 years of being forgotten, is still only known by fewer than one in 10 (9%) of the British public.

Jamie Wilson, managing director of BCWA, says: "This nation owes people like Sir Alexander Fleming and Joseph Lister a huge debt of gratitude, and there is a danger that those who changed the world of medicine for the better are becoming forgotten.

"Smallpox, for example, had a dramatic impact on the entire world, and was responsible for an estimated 500 million deaths in the 20th century alone. The fact we are more aware of Frasier and Dr Kildare than Edward Jenner, the first doctor to introduce the smallpox vaccine, is unfortunately a sad reflection on how TV has become such an integral part of our lives."

BCWA's survey also suggested many people were so embarrassed about their lack of knowledge of actual medical figures that they were prepared to guess the right answer. Six out of 10 people claimed to know who Joseph Lister was, yet when questioned further, only a fifth managed to give the correct answer.

More than one in 10 (15%) people believed Jenner - rather than American physician Jonas Salk - had developed the first successful polio vaccine, while a similar number credited Lister - instead of South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard - with performing the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant.

*The research was undertaken by TNS Omnibus on behalf of BCWA in August 2007 among a national sample of 1,012 people in the UK aged 16 and over.

Full list of real and fictional figures from the world of medicine correctly identified by respondents:

1. Dr Watson 59%
2. Sir Alexander Fleming 51%
3. Dr Kildare 47%
4. Dr Frasier Crane 43%
5. Florence Nightingale 37%
6. Nurse Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin 30%
7. Dr Gregory House 30%
8. Joseph Lister 20%
9. Dr Doug Ross 17%
10. Edward Jenner 15%
11. Mary Seacole 9%
12. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 9%

-- Florence Nightingale - pioneer of modern nursing
- 5% of people have never heard of Florence Nightingale
- 14% of people in London have never heard of her

-- Sir Alexander Fleming - biologist who discovered the antibiotic penicillin
- 7% thought Fleming invented smallpox vaccine
- 20% of Londoners have never heard of Sir Alexander Fleming - the highest figure of any region
- 11% had never heard of him

-- Joseph Lister - surgeon who promoted the idea of sterile surgery
- Perhaps the cause of most confusion, with nearly one in 10 (7%) thinking he performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant; 12% thought he invented the polio vaccine and 12% thought he created the smallpox vaccine
- 40% had never heard of him

-- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson - first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain
- 19% thought she rather than Florence Nightingale was a pioneer of modern nursing
- 64% had never heard of her

-- Edward Jenner - physician who developed the first smallpox vaccination
- Only 15% of people knew who Jenner was, making him slightly less famous than George Clooney's Dr Doug Ross character from TV's ER in the 1990s (17%)
- 54% had never heard of him

-- Mary Seacole - nurse whose efforts to help the wounded in the Crimea War were forgotten for almost 100 years
- 69% of people had never heard of Mary Seacole but of those who had, more than two thirds (68%) correctly identified her

Sad facts

- People who claimed to know what the real-life medical characters were famous for were wrong a third of the time (34%)
- Only a quarter (23%) knew what all six real-life medical figures had achieved in contrast to nearly one in four (38%) who correctly identified all six fictional medical characters
- 20% of people in the North East thought Joseph Lister not Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant - the national average for this was 7%

BCWA provides a range of private medical insurance policies designed to meet the everyday health and wellbeing needs of individuals, families, small businesses and large corporate organisations throughout the UK. With 120,000 customers, the majority of BCWA's policies are sold through a network of brokers. BCWA is based in Bristol, where it began in 1935.

BCWA joined the Simplyhealth Group in February 2005. BCWA is a trading division of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Further information on the company is available at http://www.bcwa.co.uk