Consultant looks back as hospital prepares for 45th birthday
Ealing Hospital celebrates its 45th anniversary this autumn and retired consultant Michael Rudolf has many fond memories of his 35 years there.
“I had no plans to become a doctor,’ laughs Michael who was 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.
This included King Edward Memorial where Michael worked two days a week prior to his appointment at its successor. “It was tiny compared to Ealing Hospital but had such an intimate community feeling.
Mike added: "Everyone knew one another. I only saw 2-3 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 only 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 coordinating its response to incidents including the Southall rail crash, a terrorist bomb in Ealing Broadway and the Southall Riots.
“There was wonderful team spirit and sense of togetherness. A lot of staff socialised together and that strengthened the sense of camaraderie. I had a wonderful career and count myself lucky that I spend most of it in Ealing.”
An exhibition about the hospital and its predecessors will be on show in October in the Galleria space which is accessed via the stairs opposite WHSmiths in the main reception.