A Welwyn doctor has revealed the interesting stories he's learned from patients during his 35 years of service.

Sushen Bhattacharyya speaks to plenty of elderly people in his role as a geriatrician, who tell him about events few of us have experienced, including the Blitz to the Great North Sea Flood of 1953 which threatened to engulf parts of London.

"They have so many anecdotes, stories and insights. I love talking with them. It is what keeps me still interested in medicine after all this time," he said.

Sushen recalls one patient who revealed his father and brother were murdered in front of him by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Another memorable tale came from a fighter pilot who fought in the conflict, with Sushen saying: "It turned out he had been a fighter pilot during the Second World War, and he proceeded to give me a one-on-one about aerodynamics."

One of the most common injuries Dr Bhattacharyya has to treat is a broken femur, an injury regularly suffered by over 65s when they fall.

Part of his job is finding out how they fell, continuing: "I often think I am a detective as much as a doctor.

"Patients often tell me they can’t remember why they fell and assume they tripped on something.

"If we are clear on why someone has fallen, we can try and put measures in place to reduce the chance of it happening again.

"We see nearly 400 patients a year with this type of fracture so it is worth identifying the commonalities and not just blaming the carpet."

Twenty years ago, Sushen introduced a holistic approach to treating issues surrounding fracture injuries, with the national death rate from femur fractures among the elderly falling from 35 per cent to just five per cent in that time.

One of Sushan’s most memorable patients was a 92-year-old who came in with a broken hip.

"I asked what had happened and he told me he had been ice-skating," he recalled.

"'Ice skating?' I said. 'What on earth made you want to do that?'. He said 'I was teaching my new girlfriend to skate'."