SO often it's bad news that gets the publicity. Here's a different story.

On Tuesday evening last week my wife suddenly needed medical attention. It came, in an impressively swift and co-ordinated way from the Savernake Minor Injuries Unit nurse on the Marlborough Surgery's 'out of hours' emergency telephone line and the duty GP whom she alerted and who was reassuringly with us within five minutes.

Three or four minutes later, in response to my earlier 999 call, arrived an ambulance bringing two gentle single-minded paramedics, a second ambulance some four or five minutes after that to take us to the Great Western Hospital whilst the first remained on call and finally the efficient sympathetic team in Accident and Emergency who'd relieved most of our anxiety by 11pm, kept my wife in for observation that night and, with carefully explained diagnosis, were as pleased as we that they were able to let me drive her home next morning.

So three cheers for the NHS and the many marvellous folk we depend on in it.

WILLIAM SPRAY

Marlborough