Letters of appreciation of the care received at State hospitals from grateful patients appear at regular intervals in this newspaper.

It is a safe bet that there would be a tsunami of such letters of gratitude if more people were in the habit of writing letters to the media after they have been in hospital.

I was recently admitted for treatment as an inpatient in the haematology ward at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre and the kindness and compassion of the staff with which I and other patients were treated was beyond description.

My experience at the oncology centre further confirmed the excellence of the service provided by all our health carers.

All the way from the top medical staff to the cleaners, the staff were all magnificent.

When I was discharged, I felt I had left many friends behind – to whom I owe much, much gratitude.  I am sure others who have been treated as in-patients at our hospitals feel the same.

I cannot say enough about how loving and caring the staff members were to us all in the ward. This is also a reflection of our  social services, which deliver wonderful, loving  care  to the elderly and the disabled.

 The kindness and dedication of our nursing and other staff at the oncology ward was eloquently summed up by a visitor with whom I happened to speak (her daughter was also  in the oncology ward). She spontaneously said: “Half the cure is the staff.” How true. We have a real jewel of a health service.

Please,  Minister of Health take good care of our hospitals  and of  all those manning them.