A YOUNG woman with a rare condition has praised Worcester's kind and hard-working nurses and doctors for the excellent care she has received despite the pressure the NHS is under.

Laura Parsons has a rare complex condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which can mean her joints dislocate easily, causing excruciating pain.

Her fingers can dislocate when she is writing, she suffers fatigue and even her hips can partially dislocate (subluxation).

The 24-year-old of Barbourne, Worcester, also has Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) which she was only diagnosed with in 2012.

PoTS leads to an abnormal increase in heart rate that occurs after sitting up or standing, resulting in dizziness, fainting, breathlessness and other symptoms among them what Miss Parsons calls 'a sense of doom'.

She has even been inspired to become a nurse herself because of the care she has received and is now in the second year of a three year course.

Miss Parsons said: "I frequently have need to attend Worcestershire Royal Hospital for both outpatient care and as an emergency.

"This year alone I have been treated in the emergency department multiple times. I have always received exemplary care from the nurses who are working under incredible pressure.

"The doctors and nurses always take time to try and understand the intricacies of my conditions and recognise that I am an expert patient and often know what help I need.

"As an outpatient, I recently received incredible care from rheumatology physiotherapist June.

"She recognised how much I was struggling day to day and arranged appropriate referrals as well as encouraging me into the hydrotherapy pool where I made massive progress both physically and emotionally with accepting my condition.

"I also recently was admitted with sepsis and received fantastic care from nurse Hannah in A&E before being transferred to Medical Short Stay and High Care where the nursing team provided me with fantastic holistic care despite at times being short staffed.

"Newly qualified nurses Ellie and Meryl, the pharmacist, the medical team who looked after me when I was poorly overnight, The two nurse Clares and the lovely ward manager whose name I unfortunately can't remember.

"We so frequently attack Worcester Royal Hospital whilst forgetting the humans who help run it. The staff are just everyday people doing an extraordinary job in incredibly challenging conditions. They need our support and our understanding.

"When I have needed care in the resuscitation room, it has happened.

"When I have been well enough to wait then of course I should wait whilst others of higher clinical priority are seen before me.

"Time critical treatment has always been given to me as appropriate and the less time critical stuff? If it's a bit delayed it's because someone poorlier than me needed the care quicker.

"Our NHS is at breaking point, I won't deny that. But I am sick and tired of reading negative stories that fail to recognise just how incredible the people working on the frontline are.

"If we lost the NHS we really would miss it. It may have its faults but the people on the frontline are doing their absolute best."

Over the last 18 months Miss Parsons estimates she has been taken to hospital, sometimes to A&E, once or twice a month. Sometimes this has involved a journey by ambulance.

A spokesperson for the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “It is always positive to hear back when things go well and patients are pleased with their experience of treatment and care in our hospitals. We’ll pass these comments on to the staff concerned.”