SIR – There has been a lot of negative press around the NHS lately, with the Stafford Hospital inquiry and the numerous examples of the lack of basic nursing care.

I would like to show another side of the NHS – health professionals who work in difficult situations seeing the raw side of life with patients at their most vulnerable.

My husband dialled 999 a couple of Saturdays ago when I thought I was having a heart attack.

The telephone operator calmly told me what to do and asked about my symptoms, reassuring me I could ring back if anything changed.

The two paramedics who arrived were brilliant, very professional, kind, courteous, always informing me what they were doing and continually checking my observations.

When I broke down in tears I could feel waves of empathy and was reassured I wasn’t wasting their time.

They spent at least two hours with me and didn’t leave until they were sure I was okay, offering to take me to casualty or giving me the option to see a GP at Malvern Hospital, which I opted for.

The GP couldn’t have been kinder – I felt embarrassed about probably having a panic attack, but he treated it as a normal occurrence and was friendly and approachable. I am a trained nurse and have worked as a health improvement facilitator in public health but had to stop work after a breakdown and recurrent spells of depression.

I have received excellent care from my GP at the Upton surgery and the community mental health team. They have provided group counselling sessions and cognitive behavioural therapy which have helped immensely.

Fortunately I wasn’t having a heart attack, but if I was, I know whose hands I would want to be in – the NHS’s. 

MARGARET ALLSOP

Upper Welland