A LOT of words have been printed about the need to keep the A&E at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

In support of the necessity to keep it here let me give you a personal tribute to the the staff there.

A few days ago I had an emergency of my own and without such a facility in my home town, I may not have been able to write this.

Instead of a five-minute car ride, I may have been shipped out to either Durham or Teesside.

Depending on the traffic conditions, time would have been wasted that would have meant that I would not have arrived in the same condition as I did at the Memorial.

I received first-class treatment and care there and I cannot praise the hard working staff looking after me enough.

If those who would wish to close this facility at Darlington were needing help as much as I did and still thought this closure was a good idea, then I pity them for they should not be part of a caring organisation like the NHS.

Chris Greenwell, Darlington