[ Music ]
>> Dr. Anthony Hudek: Because of the prevalence
of the photograph, the virtual means of representation now
that you have in the classroom,
the Internet all these processes, I mean,
it's not surprising that this decline
of the medical collection in the museum happened
at the turn of the 80s.
The medical museum has ceased to function as a vibrant space
of exploration and education.
It's now a relic, in fact, and contains relics
that are particularly provocative
since they can no longer be, in fact, shown in many cases,
or in fact, sampled as they were.
[ Sawing noise ]
>> Paul Bates: In an ideal world,
as far as the museum's collections are concerned,
it would be nice to have all the parts in this sort of condition.
[ Music ]
However, a lot of collections that we get a hold
of now have parts in this sort of condition.
The levels are obviously going down.
Why is that, because it doesn't appear to be leaking?
They do say that the perspex actually breathes.
So what we want to do is actually put some fluids back.
>> Jayne Dunn: Paul rescued this collection about 20 years ago.
And we've only just taken legal ownership of it.
So now it's going to come out of the cupboard.
It's been in cupboards for 20 years.
This collection is extra special because it's
from The Great Ormond Street Hospital.
>> Paul Bates: So what I'll do is put those on.
About 25 years ago, well in '85 it was,
I saw The Great Ormond Street collection.
The museum, itself, was going to be used for offices.
Right. So I said, "Okay.
Well, I'll take it."
And I got a few technicians to help me.
Every so often we'd go down and pick this thing up,
and it took - oh, I dread to think how long it took.
So we cleaned them all and then brought them up here.
They went into the seminar room, and that's where they stayed
for well, since then about 1985.
And in total there's 2800 on the books.
I've never had the time to actually find
out exactly what we've got and what sort
of condition they're in, and as you can see from this,
that the majority of them do need something done.
They stopped collecting in I think the '70s.
1970 was the last specimen we've got.
As you've seen from the plaster casts,
they date from about 1860s about the earliest one that we've got.
[ Music ]
>> Jayne Dunn: So this is another collection that's also
in a bit of a sad state.
And this is The Middlesex Hospital collection crammed in.
[Laughter] It's like Aladdin's cave.
Well, it's probably a gruesome Aladdin's cave.
I've come to understand that this is a really significant
and valuable collection, and I'm really keen to try and help Paul
and obviously present this collection.
That's just because I see the value in it
and obviously that's my job and that's what I kind of want
to do is to kind of make a better future
for this collection because I think it would be a tragedy
if it would just be put
into a cupboard again and never looked at.
I'm sure there will be people all around the world
and researchers, medical historians,
and sort of that would be really interested in this collection.
>> Paul Bates: And that's it.
[ Music ]
>> Jayne Dunn: It'll be closer to the students
in the medical school in the main campus.
And the idea is it might get used a bit better,
a little bit different.
Because although we've got the space here, and it's obviously
up in Hampstead and all the students are down in Bloomsbury.
We're hoping to design some really nice kind
of bespoke teaching spaces.
And we don't have a public license, so we can't all
of a sudden display like a classic public museum.
But what we want to do is have really nice teaching spaces
so that students and staff that come in to use the space all
of this will be on display, but obviously it would be closed
to the public and rather than having them in these cupboards.
>> What makes you want to keep on collecting pieces then?
>> Paul Bates: It's to stop them disappearing.
I've always thought they're important,
and especially nowadays they're actually even more important
because you won't get them again.
So really, as far as I'm concerned,
these actually get more and more valuable every single day
because we're not going to get these.
And especially with this sort of specialisation,
it's very unlikely we'll ever see this again.
And to say that to be honest, to stand in Hampstead
and say I don't think there's anything like this
in the world, and I believe that.
So I think it is important.
But it does need effort, people, and resources to get it back
into the condition that it should be.
[ Music ]