A Kingston Hospital patient who sold her Rolling Stones ticket because she had to have an operation found herself kept awake by medical staff partying in the grounds.

Staff at the hospital celebrated their hard work achieving coveted foundation trust status by playing thumping music into the night on June 27.

Hospital managers joined in by singing and played guitar on the old tennis courts near to the accident and emergency department on the north side of the site.

Recovering patient Valerie Timmis, 55, from Teddington, said she initially thought the noise was being made by a “thoughtless person” blasting their car stereo.

She said: “I was hours out of surgery, just coming to.

"It was so loud that I could hear every word the DJ said despite my windows being closed on that warm June night.

"Every word of Jumping Jack Flash, or whatever, reverberated round my room until 10pm, when I finally got some sleep.

“There would have been people in that hospital dying – this would have been the last hours spend with their loved ones.

“This is a clear example of patients’ needs coming second. I didn’t know it was going to happen.

“They could have given the staff a ten pound voucher.”

She asked for the music to be turned down, she said, but it was not.

A hospital spokeswoman said the party was designed to thank staff for their work during a “long hard winter” and had boosted morale.

She said: “Everyone who attended had a great time and there has been an enormous amount of positive feedback from staff who attended.

"We held the party as far away from patients as possible and were very conscious of not disturbing patients and residents.

"Staff explained to any patients who asked about the music what the party was for and they were understanding of the reasons for it."

She said the party, where two hospital managers joined in the fun, singing and playing guitar, had been agreed in advance with Kingston Council.