Smiles all round

Today was the day of son no. 1's operation, so I've been at the hospital since 7am calming his nerves. In these days of NHS-bashing, it's only right to say what fantastic treatment he has had, and how smoothly it has all gone. The children's ward at St Thomas's is a new, state of the art facility of the kind that deserves headlines for being so good. Sadly that's not how the news works so we just tend to hear about the hospitals that get it wrong. I'm a big fan of the NHS, for all it's faults, and on days like today I feel immensely proud to be in a country where this universal care is available. Me and Danny Boyle then :-).

He was a wonderful patient, and (proud dad warning) very brave. Buzz Lightyear certainly brought a well-deserved smile to his face after the operation, but a lot of credit for that must go to the lovely nurses too.