ADRIAN LLOYD-EDWARDS, of Stoke Fleming, Dartmouth, writes:

My mother-in-law has recently returned home after spending four weeks as a patient in Dartmouth Hospital following a fall sometime before Christmas.

The treatment, care and attention that she has received there has been quite magnificent.

All members of the staff looked after her and her fellow patients in a most cheerful, caring way and the matron and her team of nurses, paramedics and domestic staff deserve the highest praise for the work that they do.

We tend to hear only of the shortcomings of the National Health Service but here, in Dartmouth, we are fortunate, indeed, to have such an outstanding hospital on our doorstep.

Dartmouth Hospital, like the NHS itself, should be treasured and cherished.