A Spalding woman says she would not be alive today if it were not for the ambulance service.
Jane Jones (61) only has one lung and suffers bronchiectasis and has had to call the ambulance out eight times between November last year and March.
The former parish and district councillor, who lives in Shire Avenue, said: “The ambulance service gets enough knocks I thought it was about time someone gave it some praise.
“The condition means that quite often I’ve been seen walking from the ambulance and I can often see people wondering why I am even using it.
“But the paramedics always treat me with the upmost respect. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for them.”
A spokesperson for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) said: “It’s really nice for the patient to get in touch and praise the work our frontlines crews do.
“The patient surveys we carry out show that 95 per cent are satisfied with the service given which means that well over 500,000 patients each year value the care and attention we provide – often in very distressing circumstances.
“We are continually striving to improve and are confident that the changes we are introducing under our Being the Best programme will soon start to deliver results.
“We have also been given extra funding to appoint over 120 new frontline staff and once they are in post, we expect a marked improvement in our performance achievements.”
The praise comes at a time East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is undergoing a shake-up in a bid to improve response time
Earlier this month, Lincolnshire’s Health Scrutiny Committee asked the Secretary of State for Health to get involved amid fears plans to replace 66 ambulance stations with 13 “hubs” would compromise patient safety. The Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) will submit its assessment to the Secretary of State by tomorrow (Friday).