Martin Kurzer

Written by a patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

I recently had an open repair of an umbilical hernia, under general anaesthetic, by Martin Kurzer. I had absolutely amazing treatment from beginning to end. I am a 69 year old doctor, still working full-time in hospital. My local surgeons are all excellent but I prefer the anonymity of going to hospital where I'm not known if I require any surgical treatment. It was immediately apparent during my first consultation that Martin is that rare combination of a kind, compassionate, excellent communicator as well as a first-class surgeon. Everything was explained perfectly to me.The date of the operation was brought forward at my request by his highly efficient secretary, Margaret. All my dealings with her were also first class. All of the staff with whom I came into contact at the St John and Elizabeth Hospital were excellent and I felt I was in very capable hands. I stayed overnight as the operation was late afternoon under general anaesthetic. The anaesthetist, whose name I'm afraid I forget, was excellent. I had absolutely no untoward effects from the general anaesthetic. Martin came to see me the following morning and I was discharged with a full explanation of post-operative care. I would like to pay special tribute to the nursing staff, all of whom were extremely competent and a pleasure to be with. My room was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. I suppose if I was to be picky, the menu for the evening meal was perhaps a bit limited and there was no wine list! This is probably, though, because most of the patients are day cases there and, embarrassingly, it was only as I looked at the post-operative instructions the following evening in my favourite Italian restaurant (Enoteca Turi) on my third glass of wine that I remembered I was not supposed to have had any alcohol for 24-hours following the GA! Anyway, regardless, I suffered no ill effects! I didn't require any analgesia following the operation and two weeks down the line feel absolutely 100% fit. I cannot recommend Martin Kurzer highly enough. He is an outstanding surgeon and his team are equally as excellent.

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Written by a patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

Dr Kurzer was absolutely brilliant with me! After finding the NHS doctors for hard to deal with Dr Kurzer listened to me and got straight to the point of the matter. He was very caring and continued to check if I was okay after the surgery and I knew he was there if I ever had a problem! Could not have asked for better treatment!!

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Written by a patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

First off, I would like to say that Mr Kurzer and his team were extremely professional, kind and attentive, and had just the right level of humour – but not flippant. Special thanks to Annette, the nurse that looked after me during the brief stay – she was fantastic and kept me smiling the whole time with her stories and conversation, but again, was totally professional and had my welfare as her top priority. The room was extremely comfortable and the lunch, great. Here is my experience of the operation: It is now ten days after the operation for an inguinal hernia, left side. The operation was open (incision) with the insertion of mesh. I elected for local anaesthetic, which worked very well and meant I could leave the same day. There was only minor discomfort during the operation. As it turned out I didn’t need to take any pain killers at all. Of course, there has been some soreness (external mostly) and, on occasion, when I lifted the left leg at an odd angle (up onto a bed or into a taxi), I had some shooting pains (quite painful at first - about an 8/10 level – and normal), but these are becoming rarer. I was able to walk around the ward within a couple of hours of the operation – amazing! And I left the hospital with my wife about four hours later. We stayed in London and the following few days we did quite a lot of walking, but only locally (to shops/restaurants etc) and very carefully. We managed to fly back to France just 4 days after the operation, but in retrospect I think it would have been better to wait the full week (as advised by Mr Kurzer). It was a little difficult given all the different legs of the journey (taxi, train trip to Gatwick etc.) Currently, I am feeling very good and doing some very mild exercises that do not involve my core. I anticipate introducing some stomach exercises within the next week or so – but again, starting very gently. I took the dressing off a couple of days ago – the scar is healing really well, though there is a pronounced ridge and a little swelling, which is entirely expected. I expect this will gradually go down with time… To sum up, I would definitely recommend Mr Kurzer, his expertise along with his professional team made the whole experience almost enjoyable! If ever I get another hernia (right side??) then I would not hesitate to return. Steve

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Written by a patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

I consulted Martin about a hernia and within a few days I had the repair done by him at St John and St Elizabeth Hospital at the end of July 2019. Whilst writing this review I am of course still recovery from the surgery but as each day passes the discomfort recedes. The whole process went smoothly and I always found that Martin had time to answer any questions that I had. Not only that Martin periodically checked on how I was recovering on his own volition - I have never experienced such aftercare from a surgeon after a procedure has been completed. Quite frankly the service that I received was exceptional and feel very fortunate to have been treated by Martin.

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Written by a patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

My inguinal hernia operation went as smoothly as silk. Martin Kurzer did a splendid job (as, I must add, did all the medical and other staff at the Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth). He asked careful questions beforehand, carried out the operation as well as I had hoped, and was notably generous with his time in subsequent days, keeping a close check on my recovery and providing reassurance about the various pains etc I could not have asked for a better experience.

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