Sir In the light of the current debate about the care of the elderly in the NHS I am writing to you about my recent experience.

On Tuesday, March 7, at about noon, I was walking along the pavement in Summertown near the Nat West Bank. It was pouring with rain and I slipped and fell, fracturing myself in three places. I would just like to express my thanks for all the help I received which has now set me on the road to recovery: first, the very kind unknown people who sheltered me on the pavement until the ambulance arrived; then the gentleness and skill of the paramedics who got me to hospital and, finally, the superb care I had from surgeons, doctors, physiotherapists and, above all, nurses, in the trauma unit of the John Radcliffe.

The pain control particularly was superb; standards of cleanliness were high and I shall never forget the unfailing skill and care of the nurses, however pressed they were. I do hope that the NHS will manage to find a solution to the heavy demands that are made on them.

Rosemary Kelly, Old Marston