Three weeks ago my father-in-law, who lives on his own, toppled over while he was picking up a tray he'd been using for his lunch, and he smashed open his forehead on the corner of a stone hearth. Which at 95 is a dangerous thing to happen. For that matter at any age it's a dangerous thing to happen.

He phoned us up, and then pressed the alarm button he wears. By the time I got there 20 minutes later, the ambulance had come and taken him to our local hospital to Accident and Emergency. It was a massive stitching job, so they called in a doctor with expertise in that from the specialist unit - a long careful stitching process, and then he was able to come home with us.

Next day he was pretty poorly still, so we took him into our walk-in centre up the road, where a great nurse called Noreen changed the bandages and cheered him up.

Over the last few weeks we've been in and out of hospital, and the walk-in-centre and had home visits from the district nurse and the GP here, and his own GP. Anytime we've asked for help or advice it's been available immediately. Complications with breathing and worries about the wound's healing have been sorted out, and how he's back home, with various types of help lined up.

I shudder to think what the cost of all the treatment he's needed if it had had to be paid for. And I can't imagine a paid for service being any better. (In fact from my experience with private medicine, I doubt if it'd have been as good.) Thank God for the NHS.