After losing my mum at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, I saw first hand the compassion and professionalism of NHS staff. But as consultants push for cuts and ‘rightsizing,’ we risk losing the very people who make our health service human," says Herald columnist Calum Steele

I have to admit I have something of a soft spot for the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), and not just because both my sisters worked there. My affection comes, like many who have an affiliation for any place, from personal experience, and the ARI is where my mum spent the last few days of her life before being cruelly taken from us two months ago.

There are no words, or at least no adequate words, to express my eternal gratitude for the care and dignity Mum received from the staff in Ward 114, and from the amazing Irish nurse Danielle who almost certainly would say she was just doing her job – but for us it was so much more than that – as she was with us throughout those last few heart-breaking days.

Obviously, Mum was not the only patient in the ward, and other families must have been going through the same trauma. I’m certain each and every one of them would have been comforted by the highly dedicated, professional, and compassionate team there for them in their time of need too.

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Which is why, when the ARI hit the news twice last week, my ears pricked up and I paid more attention than normal to yet another health story.........

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