1I was a middle-aged writer who had never travelled somewhere or written a travel book of my experiences. I was also a middle-aged man who had never been in hospital before. Therefore, it came as a shock when I went for a check-up for a chest infection and was admitted to the hospital with heart failure. A life changing and challenging journey lay ahead. However, always one to see the humour in adversity and seeing the opportunity to write the travel book of a journey of all journeys, I set out to document this journey through the NHS experience. What emerges, is a travel book crafted from a hospital bed. I probably travelled the least distance of any travel writer, used up the least energy of any travel writer or had fewer props than any travel writer. Ultimately, this journey shows the NHS, much abused and maligned, as a lifesaving institution, where I met an amazing array of characters, both within the organisation and coming into it as a patient. At times, my journey has been tinged with sadness but ultimately, there is hope and laughter. This book acts as a travel guide for anyone going into hospital for the first time, hopefully, provides some entertainment for those in hospital with nothing to read and acts as a reminder for those who have just come out and have withdrawal symptoms that the institution will always be with them.
As circumstances dictated, this book also acts as an epitaph to my parents. Mary Emma Dixon - 2nd March 1927 to 3rd April 2018
James Frederick Dixon - 20th October 1927 to 10th October 2019