AS Ealing Hospital celebrates its 45th anniversary this autumn, retired consultant Michael Rudolf has fond memories of his 35 years there.

“I had no plans to become a doctor,’ laughs Michael, one of the first consultants employed by the hospital when it opened in 1979.

“I originally studied organic chemistry, but the medical students seemed to have far more fun, so I swapped courses.

“I found studying life in the human cell infinitely more interesting than what went on inside a test-tube.”

The former respiratory consultant retired in 2014 and is one of the few people who remember the small cottage hospitals that served the area before Ealing Hospital.

These included King Edward Memorial, where Michael worked two days a week.

“It was tiny compared to Ealing Hospital but had such an intimate community feeling,” he said.

“Everyone knew one another. I saw only two to three patients on my last ward round because the majority had either been discharged or transferred to the new hospital.

“I started work at Ealing the following week. It was a bit surreal for the first few days.

“The hospital was largely empty. You had no problem with parking spaces and A&E admitted between 10 and 20 patients a day. That didn’t last long!

“I was lucky to have worked for the NHS during that period. Clinical staff were far more involved in running the hospital.

“There was less bureaucracy and red tape, and no performance targets beyond doing the best for your patients.”

Michael went on to become the hospital’s medical director, co-ordinating its response to incidents including the Southall rail crash, a terrorist bomb in Ealing Broadway and the Southall Riots.

“There was a wonderful team spirit and a sense of togetherness,” he  added.

“A lot of staff socialised together and that strengthened the sense of camaraderie. I had a wonderful career and count myself lucky that I spent most of it in Ealing.”

An exhibition about the hospital and its predecessors will be on show in October in the Galleria space, accessed via the stairs opposite WH Smith in the main reception.