I WISH Musgrove and co could have been with me, my daughters and son and other family members as my husband lost his fight for life in the High Dependency Unit in Kidderminster Hospital on August 11.

Every stop was pulled out for him, everything was done to try to keep him here.

He was 53, with a poor medical history. Nothing was too much trouble for the nursing staff and their care and help immediately after his death was such a comfort.

They were concerned, like me, that if they needed to "ventilate" him he would have to be moved to Redditch, Worcester or even Cheltenham.

Would he have been alright? I don't know - maybe, maybe not.

All I know is that we were able to get to the hospital quickly, family members were able to meet, to swap times spent with my husband, get home, get changed, back up to the hospital and home again. Friends were able to give support and give us lifts before or after they had finished work.

The whole, sorry saga, of Kidderminster Hospital downgrading is not just about what hospital the patient ends up in. It all happens way, way before then. It is the comfort of knowing a good community hospital is there in our midst.

People operate on a local level, they see a friendly face as they walk through the hospital, or they can have a coffee with a neighbour who may accompany them to see a sick relative.

All this peripheral care is so important to the family and necessary to the patient.

People have to know the best was done for their loved ones if the worst comes to the worst. I have that comfort. Others, sadly, will not.

People simply will not be able to get to the hospital urgently as we did, and visits from friends and family will be cut dramatically.

The whole thing becomes a cold and worrying, frightening affair. What on earth did the people of Kidderminster ever do to deserve this?

CELIA RYAN AND FAMILY

Sculthorpe Road

Blakedown