The star of BBC's My Family was back in his home town last week to open the £25,000 minor operations ward at Ilkeston Community Hospital, funded jointly by the hospital's League of Friends and Ilkeston Rotary Club.

His 85-year-old father Norman Stevenson, who still lives in the town, joined him for the unveiling of a plaque outside the former store cupboard at the Heanor Road hospital, which has been transformed into a state-of-the-art operating theatre equipped to perform minor surgical procedures for patients in Ilkeston and surrounding areas.

The 59-year-old seasoned actor was talking after the official opening about how much Ilkeston meant to him growing up and how those years feature heavily in his book out on November 29.

He said: "I was born in this town and one of the reasons I come back so much is that it's a town with such a great sense of community, and that's something I've taken with me around the world. It's something I miss and something I love to come back to.

"Ilkeston features a lot in the book – I talk about the people, the football team, my time at Gladstone Boys' School under John Lally, up to me getting a start in drama."

Robert's dad Norman said he had had treatment for cataracts at the hospital recently and welcomed the new operating theatre's opening as it meant he did not have to travel to Nottingham or Derby.

Alan Chambers, past president of the Rotary club, launched the fundraising initiative for the new theatre in August 2008, with a skydive at Nottingham Airfield.

He said: "We all know somebody who has been in hospital and it's a good cause so we decided to go for it."

Mike Perry from the hospital's league of friends said: "We are pleased to have made a key contribution to such a worthwhile project by funding the medical equipment for the new theatre.

"Our thanks go to all those in the local community and surrounding areas who have supported us and helped raise the funds for this project."

Robert first became a household name in the UK, as Wolfie in the 1977 sitcom Citizen Smith.

In 1990 he appeared in the comedy film Strike It Rich, and then returned to television for two comedies Nightingales and Alan Bleasdale's GBH – for which he won the BAFTA award for Best Actor.

He also starred in TV series The Wimbledon Poisoner in 1994 and Jake's Progress in 1995, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.

Robert is also hoping to stage a West End show in Derby next year. He appeared in Aristo in Chichester last year and hopes the show will be previewed in Derby before it is peformed in London.