"A & E Care - Fautless"

I write at the request of my 98 (almost 99) yo mother, who now lives with me and who just a couple of weeks ago had her first urgent visit to a hospital since last giving birth in 1947!

She fell in the middle of the night after a bathroom visit and, as she described, had a funny sensation in her head. It didn't improve after an hour so I rang the 111 service who ultimately felt she needed the ambulance. I had hardly put the phone down it seemed when the ambulance arrived - two lovely paramedics from Pershore base who were incredibly nice and who kept my mother feeling very calm in a frightening situation as they told us she had atrial fibrillation. After a number of tests they felt she needed to go to The Alexandra Hospital - a 25 minute drive.

When I arrived some 40 minutes later she had already been attended, was in a screened off private bay, had a cannula fitted receiving anti-biotics and was chatting to one of the many bright and cheerful nurses.

The attending doctors and nurses on A&E - both night and day staff - were all absolutely superb and in the morning she was seen by Elderly Care Consultant who was so re-assuring and helpful. As my mother's heart function had settled down she was released at lunchtime that morning, and just a few days later she received a letter with her appointment details for fitting of a 24-hour heart monitor for evaluation purposes and then a follow up appointment letter with he consultant.

With so much negativity in the media these days about the NHS service, it has to be said that when help is needed it is there. We were fortunate that when the help was needed for my mother it was immediately available, and it is understood that there are issues in some areas of the UK - but it is rarely mentioned that a lot of the pressure caused is down to the sheer numbers of people in the UK today using the NHS when compared to an NHS service of say 25 years ago. The people who make up our great NHS are truly awesome, dedicated and inspiring, and everyone should be praising this great service we have here in the UK instead of constantly looking for fault.

A final and huge thank-you to the staff of A&E at The Alex for their attentiveness, efficiency and sensitivity in caring for my mother.