大象传媒

John started his career in Derby Hospitals in 1981 as a theatre technician at the DRI before being made a manager of the ophthalmic theatre.听 In those days it was a single theatre suite which came complete with an operating list of around only three or four cataract operations. This was later expanded to two theatres.

How times have changed!

Now, at the Royal Derby hospital, John manages a suite of no fewer than eleven operating theatres catering purely for day cases dealing with eye surgery, hand surgery, neurology and general day case surgery.

The whole department is brand, spanking new: "Eleven beautiful theatres, hi-tech equipment. I can't tell you how ecstatic we are! I have a lovely team - each dedicated to their own speciality.

"The facilities we have here in Derby are fantastic. And I believe that we've got, certainly in ophthalmology - and I'm sure so in hand surgery - the best operating theatres in the region."

John says that being able to have a procedure done and then go home is much better for patients than having a prolonged stay in hospital: "They're admitted first thing in the morning - they come in, have their procedure done and then get back into their home surroundings... and there's a great ethos that patients recover better in their own surroundings."

Paddy

After a busy day managing the theatres, John loves to go home and relax with his Jack Russell, Paddy - his third.

Long walks are the norm in the evening and, as well as being good exercise, are John's method of unwinding.