Crispin Best - Medicine and surgery in Nelson's navy

"I was a Consultant in  Paediatric anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, until retiring in 2017. Since then, I have been involved with charity work for the Riding for the Disabled Association and Oxfam.

My interest in naval medicine in the 18^th Century comes from both my background and my reading. I come from an English West Country family with many naval connections, some of them respectable, and was brought up on the works of people like C S Forrester, Frederick Marryat and latterly Patrick O’Brian.  In 1996 I sailed across the Atlantic in HM Bark Endeavour, a replica of the first ship that Captain James Cook took around the world. I then became a watch leader and medical officer for the Sail Training Association, now the Tall Ships Youth Trust, and crewed for many voyages on their two brigs teaching other people how to sail and work on them. I also had my own boat on the Clyde for 10 years."