Madam, - I feel I must write in defence of all the bad publicity about Accident and Emergency departments. I have nothing but good to say about the wonderful treatment I have had since being brought in by ambulance to A&E at St Vincent's University Hospital (after a very bad fall in my garden) towards the end of May.
Within minutes of my arrival I was in a room (not just behind a curtain) being seen by a doctor and a nurse, and from that moment on I got nothing but the best of treatment. Yes, I was on a trolley that night, in a corridor, but that just had to be endured - nobody's fault.
I left the hospital two days later with my leg in plaster and then each week my ankle was X-rayed, I was seen by a doctor, and often by the consultant who was in charge. Now, more than two months since the cast was taken off, I am still attending for physiotherapy and getting the very best of care and attention and every effort is being made to ensure a full recovery.
I think it only fair to say that, in my opinion, when the need arises the treatment and the care given - certainly at St Vincent's Hospital - is second to none and I am one very grateful patient. - Yours, etc,
ANNE MAHER, Taney Crescent, Dundrum, Dublin 14.