"Ealing ward 4 South and Patient Transport"

I would just like to record my heartfelt thanks to the two "knights in shining armour" from the ambulance team who charged to the rescue in style yesterday afternoon.

My 99-year-old mother Elizabeth (Bella) was being discharged from Ward 4 South after a week in Ealing Hospital.

Due to an error in communication the original Patient Transport driver arrived with a smile and a wheelchair...but they were a one-man crew and Mum lives in a first floor flat and needed a carry chair!

So we were taken back to the ward and advised that a new request for transport had to be logged and we would have to wait for an hour!

We were then told we would be have to be despatched to the discharge waiting room several floors up as Mum's bed was urgently required!

Then...as if by magic...our "saviours" arrived....sent not from On-High but Basildon!

From here on things just got better and better...they were an absolutely fantastic duo...joking and laughing with mum while at the same time efficiently assessing her potential needs for the journey and subsequent delivery to her flat.

They were totally delightful..putting us both at our ease from the moment we met them on the ward to the moment they said goodbye ... Only after making absolutely sure Mum was comfortable and safe.

They are a real credit to their profession and thoroughly deserve our thanks and appreciation.

In addition I would like to praise the medical teams on Ward 4 South who treated Mum with the utmost care and dignity, all with friendly smiles and willing dispositions.

With the exception of the original transport communication "blip" I have nothing but praise for everyone involved in my mum's care on the NHS.

THank you.