A Swindon woman praised the hospital staff and paramedics who cared for her during what she described as the 'worst time of her life'.

Barbara James experienced excruciating pain after dislocating her right hip in a fall at home a few days ago.

The 75-year-old described the injury as “a nightmare come true” and is immensely grateful to the emergency workers who came to her aid.

She said: “The staff were absolutely fantastic, they did such a wonderful job, nothing was too much trouble.

“It was terrifying, the pain was excruciating, but they were so good.

“They get so much criticism so it would be nice to say a big public thank you.”

The pensioner has had both hips replaced and although one has worked perfectly, the other keeps locking up when she tries to stand or bend, which caused great discomfort for her in March, but when she brought this up with a consultant in May, he could not see anything wrong with it.

At around 10.45pm on an October evening, Barbara bent slightly to pick something up and felt her hip pop out.

She said: “I can’t begin to describe the pain. The ambulance arrived at 3am and I spent all that time until then screaming.

“I pressed my pendant and Ryan and Lucy from Homeline came round and called 999 and my friend David.

"They stayed with me, covered me up and put a pillow under my head, then David arrived and they attended to another call.”

Paramedics Joel and Simon were “so caring and kind and gentle and patient” when they moved her onto a stretcher and provided pain relief.

Upon arrival at A&E at 4.30am, Barbara recalled the emergency doctor Alistair being particularly helpful – “I couldn’t get over how good he was, he was so attentive”.

The patient also wished to thank nurses Amitha, Chandini, and Leona, who did “an amazing job”, and everyone else who looked after her during the X-rays, sedations and procedures of the 12-hour stay at GWH.

A Great Western Hospital spokesperson said: “We thank Ms James for her positive comments about the care she received in our Emergency Department.

“We always welcome feedback from our patients, as it helps us understand what we are doing well and identify areas for improvement.

“Our staff work very hard to ensure every patient has a positive experience whilst they are with us, and the teams involved in Ms James' care will be pleased to receive this feedback.

“We wish her well with her ongoing recovery.”

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