A DOCTOR who was so dedicated to Nottingham City Hospital that he even covered shifts after his retirement has died surrounded by colleagues on one of the wards he knew so well.
Indian-born Dr Sunil Mukherjee spent more than three decades at the hospital, which he considered his second home.
The 78-year-old died there earlier this month after an illness on September 3,during which he was treated by his old friends at the hospital.
His daughter Anita Mukherjee, from Middlesex, said it was her father's dedication to his work that inspired her to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor.
She said: "He really did live for his work. He was so dedicated and gave it everything he had. When I saw him with patients he was very caring; all he wanted to do was look after people."
Dr Mukherjee started life in medicine at the R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata, India.
Upon graduating, he moved to the UK and landed a job as a junior doctor at St John's Hospital, in Halifax.
It was there he met his wife, Barbara, who was working as a nurse. They married in 1968 and had two children, Anita and Maloy.
The couple settled in Nottingham in 1971, where Dr Mukherjee was offered a consultant position working with the elderly.
Barbara, 73, of Ravenshead, said: "I met him when I used to make him a drink when he was on his last ward, before he went off duty.
"He was a very gentle, and quietly-spoken man who really liked looking after people and hoping to make them better."
Dr Mukherjee continued to work at the hospital part-time after his retirement in 2002.
Tahir Masud, a consultant physician at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "He took a completely holistic approach, he didn't just look at the patient, he looked at the person as a whole.
"Even after he retired he still came to work to help out when there was a shortage of senior doctors. That's just the man he was."
Family and friends are invited to the funeral, which will take place on Wednesday, October 1 at Bramcote Crematorium at 2pm.
Any donations are requested to be sent to Age UK.
