I HAVE recently been discharged from Airedale hospital after a hip replacement. I wish to express my grateful thanks to the surgical and anaesthesia team and to all in Ward 6 for their committed care, cheerfully given at all times despite plainly being overworked and understaffed.

I heard one nurse telling her colleagues that she was about to take her break but not the full half hour, perhaps 10 minutes.

Such dedication deserves more than clapping once a week.

May I also record my gratitude to those Labour Party visionaries who brought the NHS into being, despite opposition and forecasts of doom?

The NHS is the jewel in the nation’s crown.

Once there have been sufficient vaccines for the medical staff to take a breather, I would like to suggest that every nurse is given an extra week’s holiday, plus £500 tax free: and then for their pay to be brought up to the level it would have been but for the period of austerity: they deserve no less.

Alan F Hickman

Skipton