"Bi-Lateral Total Knee Replacement"

I'm no stranger to hospitals.

Been in plenty and worked in some.

Wrightington is amazing.

They would have every excuse for not providing the best - old facilities with a maze of corridors and a confusing jumble of spaces......

The facilities:

The place is absolutely spotless and throughout my stay I was met by an army of cleaners beavering away to maintain that standard.

Despite the age of the building there was no peeling paint or crumbling walls.

Everything I needed was to hand or provided at short notice.

The standards maintained on Ward 6 were a credit to staff at every level.

The food, so often the butt of jokes about the NHS, was exceptional.

Hot, fresh, tasty and in quantity.

Please can I drop back in for a meal some time?

The staff:

Professional, friendly, communicative, efficient and above all extremely competent.

The cleaning staff, the porter who pushed me to x-ray - and made me laugh, the admin staff, the nursing staff - from student to sister - the anaesthetist to the consultant surgeon. Everybody I came into contact with, no exceptions.

The treatment:

I live a long way from Wrightington and the journey can be a nightmare.

I wouldn't accept treatment anywhere else.

I've had both my knees replaced and they're excellent.

In anaesthetics and in theatre I was treated with consideration, talked through every step and generally kept at ease.

On Ward 6 the nursing staff catered to my every need swiftly and efficiently, day and night.

Pain relief and other medication was managed exceptionally well and general nursing was provided with warmth, dignity and consideration.

The outcome:

I should be resting and using my crutches more than I am but it's difficult when I feel like I could come under 10 seconds for the hundred metres.