A DOCTOR who provided emergency treatment to golfer Bernard Gallacher when he had a heart attack and collapsed at a hotel has praised the quality of the Scottish medical service.

Dr Mark Bloch helped resuscitate the Ryder Cup winner, 64, and helped keep him alive until an ambulance could arrive after he collapsed at the Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen, last August.

He was saved thanks to a defibrillator salesman who happened to be staying at the hotel and had one of the devices with him.

Dr Bloch, a consultant anaesthetist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, returned to the hotel this week to accept a new heart-start defibrillator donated by the Sandpiper Trust. He said: "I took Bernard to A&E at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, from there to the intensive care unit, and, again, the ambulance team was outstanding, while the member of the public who started the life support made a vital contribution.

"I have worked for the emergency services in England and all over the place and the services up here are second to none. The teams are outstanding."

Bathgate-born Gallacher, who won 10 European Tour titles, spent five days in a medically induced coma following his heart attack, but has now recovered.

The Scot has started a campaign to encourage all golf clubs to be equipped with automated external defibrillators.