HE is known as one of the funniest men in medicine and a treasured consultant at Royal Bolton Hospital.

But at the end of this month, Dr Kevin Jones will say goodbye to patients in Bolton and embark on a new adventure in New Zealand.

The 59-year-old has worked in the acute medical unit at Royal Bolton Hospital for more than 13 years.

His stand-up routines, which draw on the darker side of medicine, have become legendary in Bolton and Bury.

Dr Jones said leaving the Royal Bolton would be “a big wrench”.

Dr Jones, who lives in Harwood, said: “I have loved working in Bolton — it’s my favourite hospital. I will miss all of the banter and all of the people I work with.

“It’s such a friendly place. When you walk down the corridor here, people stop you to say hello and I will miss that. I have come to know so many fantastic people over the years.

“I will miss the medicine too. It’s incredibly interesting. The real kick is getting the diagnosis right.

“Sometimes working in a hospital is like a great soap opera. You learn an awful lot about the human condition in this job. Patients can both amaze and disgust you — it actually teaches you a lot about yourself.

“It makes you think, ‘how would I react if I was told I was dying?’ It’s amazing what people can do when the chips are down.”

The father-of-two is moving to a small city in the North Island called Whanganui with his wife Liz, a GP in Bolton, where he will work for a year in the local hospital.

After that, the consultant will hang up his stethoscope for good.

He added: “I’m going to work in New Zealand because I felt I needed to do something to take my mind off retirement.

“I wanted to have an adventure before I finished properly. It’s a weird feeling. You feel you’re slowly going to become worthless.”

And as for his stand-up career?

“I’m going to give that up too. I’m bored to death of listening to myself.”

Dr Jones flies to New Zealand on September 28.