I've been reading your blog for a long time now and this is the first post that's made me cry. Maybe that means I'm a heartless person but this post struck me and made me want to comment. You do an amazing job and I'm sure that most of us out here would wish to be treated by someone who cares like you do if/when we need help. My mum died of cancer some years ago and I remember the shell she became, small and withered and doped up to the eyeballs on morphine. There was only a fragment of her left in the end but the people who helped care for her all treated her and us with compassion and respect. That is invaluable and makes a huge difference to both the patient and their loved ones. Thank you. Your work is appreciated and valued even if the press and all the beaurocracy and targets make it seem otherwise at times.