Madam, At a time when the care for the elderly is getting regular and consistently negative coverage in the media, I would like to redress the balance by bringing your readers' attention to a wholly positive experience we have had.

In November 2009 we made the difficult decision to move my father from his home of 42 years in a small village in Cheshire to Hazelhurst Nursing Home in Bishopswood. My father was a fiercely independent man - 'an old-fashioned gentleman' was how he was often described - and was unhappy at the notion of moving into a nursing home even though it meant he would be close to his family.

Although we had drawn up a list of possible homes for Dad we only visited Hazelhurst. We were immediately struck by the quality of the facilities and the caring and professional attitude of the staff we met and we decided to look no further. It couldn't have been further from our pre-conceived idea of an 'old folks home', more a lovely home for folks who happened to be old.

Over the past two and a half years our decision has been fully vindicated. Dad has been cared for with absolute respect, his medical needs have been met with utter professionalism and his quality of life could not have been better given the circumstances.

Dad passed away very peacefully last week at the age of 86 and on his behalf I would like to publicly thank the nurses, carers, catering and maintenance staff of Hazelhurst for the way they looked after him. He became very fond of all of them.

John Stout, Deepdean