ON FRIDAY, July 15, I was discharged from hospital after a seven-month stay.

I was admitted to the JR hospital originally to have my left leg amputated, the result of many years being diabetic.

I also suffer with polyrheumatoid-arthritis, which affects all of my joints.

The amputation was successful, but due to my arthritis, I was unable to be discharged, as I have no upper body strength to use crutches, or to use a normal wheelchair.

In April, I was transferred to the community hospital in Didcot for physiotherapy to prepare me for eventual release.

Before this could take place my home had to have various pieces of specialist equipment installed and this took some time and several visits to my home by healthcare workers, such as occupational therapists, so that they could be assured that my home would have everything I would need to enable me to have a reasonably good lifestyle.

The reason for this letter is not to bemoan my plight, but to publicly thank all the staff involved in the amazing care I have received, from the surgeons who operated on me at the JR, and the nurses who looked after me there.

Thanks also to the porters and the domestics from both hospitals. The ambulance crews who transported me to and from several appointments at different hospitals, taking great care to make each journey as smooth as possible.

In particular, the care I received at Didcot Community Hospital was outstanding.

I realise that the staff had more time to look after individual patients than the staff have at the JR, but the care and attention they gave me was exemplary.

Everybody carried out their tasks in a very cheerful manner, and the atmosphere was far more relaxed; at times it was almost like being a member of an exclusive club.

A local GP visited the hospital a couple of times each week, and he was a great help to me during my recuperation.

I was always treated with respect and care by all the staff and the GP, and kept informed of everything that was done to me and for me.

I cannot thank them enough for making my stay so much better than it might have been, with all of them working together for the wellbeing of the patients.

I have heard that community hospitals are to be closed down. If they are closed, then whoever makes that decision should be sacked.

This shows the NHS at its best, and I honestly believe that I could not have received better treatment and care anywhere in the world.

RON AGUTTER
Weststrup Close, Marston, Oxford