"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Over the past 2 years or so I have been a regular user of the N.H.S. and mostly at 'The Paget'. Following cancer treatment and some nasty side effects/symptoms and complications, I have had many occasions to visit the hospital. Most of those occasions have been as an out-patient, with some as an emergency patient. On each and every occasion I have been treated with the utmost respect, dignity, courtesy and professionalism together with an unfailing good humour. On each and every out-patient visit, I have invariably not had to wait an unseemly time to be seen, and yet the departments have always been extremely busy. I was recently conveyed to the Accident and Emergency Department due to a pulmonary thrombosis after a recent surgical operation. The ambulance arrived in minutes, I was comprehensively examined and then taken to hospital by 2 extremely competent Paramedics. Fantastic service! In all of my dealings with this hospital, I can honestly say I have never had a bad experience. Yes, the situations I found myself in were sometimes very unpleasant but I had great faith that all around me there were many people working to help me in a most professional way. During my recent in-patient stay, I had to wait on a bed within Casualty for a bed on the ward to become free. Did this affect me unduly; no! Was it a problem; no! I was more than adequately looked after and was warm and comfortable and very closely monitored so to me it did not matter at all where I was. This leads me to say that I believe we in this country should be extremely grateful for the Health Service we have; and that we should just let people who work within the Service get on with their jobs, without recourse to constantly checking statistics or charts, or to see if they are 'complying' with unreasonable service expectations. So, as far as I am concerned, I know when I'm on to a good thing.