My medical haunts

Fiona Aspinall

@fi_onthewards

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These are the spots I seem to orbit as an NHS physio in Chorlton — from the Oxford Road behemoths where half my patients appear from, to quieter corners where you can actually hear yourself think (and maybe skim a journal article over a coffee). It’s a mix of big acute, community gems and a couple of nerdy museums, all firmly part of my week… often involving a gridlocked 86 bus and a futile hunt for parking near the MRI.

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My medical haunts — 7 items
Name	Type	What it's brilliant for	Address	City	My take
1Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI)	Large NHS teaching hospital	Major acute care, specialist services and endless referrals.	Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL	Manchester	My default landmark and referral black hole — world‑class medicine, chaotic corridors, and parking that could break the calmest physio.
2Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital	Specialist children’s hospital	Paeds everything — complex cases, rehab and family‑centred care.	4 The Boulevard, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL	Manchester	Whenever one of ‘my’ kids ends up here, I’m grateful this place exists — bright, busy and relentlessly kid‑focused despite the seriousness.
3Manchester Royal Eye Hospital	Ophthalmic specialist hospital	Eye emergencies, specialist clinics and all things retina to refraction.	Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL	Manchester	The go‑to when a ‘bit of blurred vision’ turns into something properly worrying. Feels like half of Oxford Road funnels through here some days.
4The Christie NHS Foundation Trust	Specialist cancer centre	Oncology, radiotherapy, research and those huge multidisciplinary teams.	550 Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester M20 4BX	Manchester	Whenever I’m moaning about a long shift, a clinic here snaps me right out of it — patients walking miles in from Wilmslow Road, quietly getting on with impossible things.
5Withington Community Hospital	Community hospital and treatment centre	Outpatients, diagnostics and rehab without the full acute‑hospital chaos.	Nell Lane, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 2LR	Manchester	Much calmer vibe than Oxford Road — still busy, but you can actually park, breathe and run a clinic without watching the clock for your next ward dash.
6Manchester Museum	University museum with natural history and science collections	A quiet wander between clinics, plus nerdy exhibits and the Vivarium.	Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL	Manchester	Perfect decompression stop after a heavy outpatient list on campus — ten minutes with the frogs in the Vivarium does more for my blood pressure than half the mindfulness apps.
7Science and Industry Museum	Science and technology museum	Big‑picture science, exhibitions on innovation and the odd health‑related show.	Liverpool Road, Manchester M3 4FP	Manchester	Not strictly medicine, but brilliant for remembering why we bother with evidence and innovation in the first place — plus it’s a good shout on a rare free weekend off‑call.

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