THE family of Julie Donaldson have praised the actions of MP Helen Southworth who has backed them in their search for the truth about her delayed air ambulance transfer.

Julie's brother-in-law Stuart said: "Helen's help was so important and we can't express our thanks enough.

"She's been banging on the door of the Secretaries of State for Health and Defence and without her we wouldn't have got the report. This goes outside the normal way of handling complaints and the Minister told them to take this out of the hands of the ambulance service."

Helen told the Guardian: "I am very pleased that it is such a thorough and fair report.

"It gives me confidence that the NHS is prepared to be rigorous in dealing with issues like this and I am looking forward to seeing a considerable improvement in services."