"Patients were in a safe place where they would be cared for by staff "

In the past few years, I have had to contact the P A L's scheme in Grimsby for problems arising from my treatments for an ovarian cyst, found accidentally during a scan necessary to identify the cause of abdominal pain. The cyst was not investigated until five months later, when it was found to be very unpleasant indeed, and I feel that, had I not been in contact continuously with the P A L's office, I could be waiting still.

Having criticised my earlier treatment, I feel that it would be very unfair of me not to send words of appreciation when I witnessed nursing of a standard that seemed to me to be of the highest quality in Lincoln. I had a bladder investigation recently that needed an epidural anaesthetic and consequently the possibility of an overnight stay. The recovery ward was understaffed so I was given a bed in Stowe Ward.

I have been collecting my pension for quite a number of years now and most of the women in the ward were of similar age. Some were very frail, some confused and some indeed were obviously both. Many needed coaxing to eat, to identify their distress and even just to wake up for necessary treatment. I asked the nurse in charge (dark hair, straight fringe, 30-ish) whether this working environment got her down sometimes. Her answer was "No, I love it".

I was allowed to go home later that evening but during the few hours of my stay I witnessed great patience and kindness, and some humour but, overall, a sense that the nurses in this ward appeared to be able give the patients, myself included, the belief that they were in a safe place where they would be cared for by staff who took a real interest in them and who would go to great lengths to make them comfortable and ease the process of recovery.

My mother was a ward sister in the 50 s when the word "Geriatric" described the long wards of elderly sad old people confined to tidy beds and rigid visiting times. Now my daughter teaches Nursing at Sheffield Hallam University and I know that things are, at their best, very different now. She suggested that I let you know how impressed I was by my latest hospital experience. It is a great pleasure for me to do so.