A 25-year-old Kentish Town man is the first patient in London to be discharged just hours after undergoing surgery to remove a kidney.

Luke Tolchard's surgery was performed as a "day case" at the Royal Free Hospital at the end of November.

The software product manager was back in his own bed soon after .

“I am feeling surprisingly well,” said Luke. “I’m able to move around and I went on a Tomb Raider experience for my work Christmas party so I’m nearly back to normal.”

Luke started to feel unwell about a year ago, noticing a pain in his back which gradually got worse.

“I noticed that it was whenever I had been drinking alcohol.

"A few drinks and it would be agony and the pain would last for a few days.”

After being referred to the hospital, scans revealed that Luke’s right kidney was not functioning and that when he drank alcohol, the fluid would get stuck, causing him pain.

Consultant surgeon Ravi Barod offered Luke the chance to be the Royal Free's first patient to undergo kidney removal surgery, with the help of a surgical robot, as a day case patient.

Suitable patients need to be relatively fit and confident.

"There would have to be no complications from the surgery and their pain would need to be well controlled," Ravi added.

“The patient also needs open access to emergency care. We have a special clinic here at the hospital that they can come to immediately if they need to.”

Luke said the biggest challenge after he went home was "getting in and out of bed so I made a makeshift hospital bed with pillows to make it easier".

“You also have a doctor at the end of a phone line and you have a follow up the next day, so you feel like you are being looked after," he said.

Hospital stays following the removal of a kidney have dramatically reduced.

“In 2015 patients would generally stay in hospital for about five days," Ravi said. "In 2016 we got this down to two days for fit patients. Now we are doing it as a day case."

He said he hopes to do more. 

"Patients are more likely to recover sooner from their surgery if they are at home and it means we can free up beds in hospital for other people."