I am a weekly reader of your paper. On several occasions I have read about people having bad experiences at the hands of the NHS, in particular Hillingdon Hospital.

I would like to share with you a very positive experience that I have recently been through.

It involves three different wards within Hillingdon Hospital.

First of all I had to go to the day care centre for a minor operation.

The staff were all nice and I immediately felt at ease as they were so caring and helpful. I also noticed how clean the ward was.

When I had my results back from this operation, I was informed that I would need a hysterectomy.

I must admit I was a bit frightened, not only for the thought of having a major 'op' but also scared about what I had read about the hospital in the local papers.

Soon I received an appointment to go and have my 'pre-op'. This was in the Middlesex Suite,and as soon as I walked in I felt relaxed and was informed all the tests needed would be done on the ward.

This was a great relief as I was worried I would have had to race over the whole hospital having one test here and another one somewhere else.

Then, within a week, I was admitted to a ward within the maternity building called Marina Ward.

I was admitted on a Thursday morning and had the operation the Thursday afternoon. By the evening, I was back on the clean comfortable ward.

I was in pain and being sick, but the staff acted very quickly to give me pain relief and something to control the sickness.

I am so grateful for all the treatment I have received, and can't believe that this whole experience was over and done with within six weeks.

So I would like to send big thanks to everyone involved for making my experience a good one.

JANICE, address supplied.