NOTTINGHAM, England – Patients who received treatment at the UK's Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are sharing their stories online in a new video library launched on the Trust website.

Called "Patient Stories", the library contains five short films where patients share their experiences of illness, treatments and the services they received. The five films can be viewed at http://www.nuh.nhs.uk/patientstories/.

The stories, gathered during several one-to-one interviews, use video, audio and images to help convey the views and opinions of patients or healthcare professionals about people's care.

Margaret has suffered with angina for several years. In one 12-month period Margaret had 11 attacks. After each attack Margaret would call for an ambulance by dialing 999.

"Because I had called for an ambulance so many times over such a short period, I really did wonder if dialing 999 after each attack was the right thing to be doing," she said. "I am so grateful that the medical staff assured me that calling an ambulance is exactly right considering my condition. I hope others will get the same reassurance from listening to my story."

Kerry Bloodworth, Assistant Director of Nursing, said, "These patient stories have the potential to make a hospital visit to NUH less daunting or frightening by showing the personal experiences of other patients."

The four other stories include 36-year-old Bryan who made a fantastic recovery after a severe stroke; mum-of-one Jane, who beat breast cancer; Sue from Nottingham, who after major surgery has recovered from bladder cancer; and Francis, aged 82, who received appropriate and timely treatment at the stroke unit at the City Hospital campus and is now back at home with her husband Bill.