We need to guard against undermining the achievements of all those who work in the health service. It is important to remind ourselves that every day thousands of people have satisfactory experiences of the service, and successful outcomes. A survey carried out in 2000 by the Irish Society for Quality in Healthcare tested the attitudes of 1,800 patients who had been through the acute system. The results indicated that 96% were satisfied or very satisfied with the level of quality of care they received from the system. Other statistics in that recently published survey indicate significant satisfaction levels on a number of fronts from those treated in our hospitals.