A mum-of-three who has had a groundbreaking new form of hip surgery has described the "incredible" feeling of being home within six hours of the procedure.

Lynn Dommett went in for her 10am operation at Kent and Canterbury Hospital but thankfully it was a blissfully short return trip.

Patients receiving treatment before would have had to stay in hospital for up to a week after their operation.

But the surgery, which is a less invasive type of hip replacement, meant Lynn was back at home in bed at her home on the Romney Marsh by 4.30pm.

The 56-year-old, who has three sons, was one of the first patients in Kent to have the procedure.

Surgeons use an incision at the front of the hip rather than the back, which means they don’t need to cut through any muscle or tendons unlike traditional procedures.

This means there is less soft tissue disturbance and less recovery pain.

Lynn says the treatment at the hospital’s elective orthopaedic centre went "much better than expected".

She explained: “I didn’t appreciate initially it was a new procedure - I was just happy to be offered the operation.

"I thought I would come home with a bucket-full of morphine, but I didn’t need it.

"I could take aspirin rather than blood-thinning injections and I didn’t need to wear surgical stockings because I could be mobile.

“My incision was smaller – just four inches long - which meant there was no need for traditional stitches or staples, just dissolvable stitches.

“Having my hip replaced using the anterior approach also meant there were far fewer restrictions for my recovery. I didn’t have to lay on my back in bed and as a side sleeper, this was a great relief.

“Everything was much better than I expected."

Lynn was in recovery by 12.15pm and was back on the hospital's Invicta Ward by 1pm.

She was then allowed out of bed to walk with a frame 15 minutes later, and, by 2pm, was using crutches to move.

“I was soon walking with ease and learning how to master going up and down stairs," the examinations officer added.

“Within no time it was felt that I could return home safely. I think that surprised a lot of the nurses, who expected me to stay at least one night, but I was very happy to go home the same day.”

Lynn was originally referred to the hospital after experiencing pain in her groin.

After several tests, including X-rays and scans, she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her hip.

Initially, she was offered a surgery date a month later but it coincided with work commitments, so her hip replacement took place in December.

Within a week she only needed one crutch to get around before she was able to return to work the following month.

She said: “To wake up after the surgery, when the spinal block had worn off, with no residual arthritic pain in my leg was incredible.

“It was a gradual worsening so I hadn’t realised how bad it was before.

"I was almost euphoric [at] not being woken up in the middle of the night with the pain.

"Now everything is back to normal and it’s as if nothing ever happened and I never had arthritis.

“My other hip is also affected, [so] I really hope I can have the same procedure."