What does it say about the state of our society if a person needs to go blind in one eye before their condition is deemed serious enough to treat?

We are not talking about a controversial new cancer treatment that will prolong life, but one that has been Government-approved and will save the gift of sight.

What next, treating a benign cancer only when it becomes malignant?

OK, the lady in your story is 82 and the treatment is expensive at £26,000.

But what will the cost be to the NHS, and let's not forget the woman's family, when her condition worsens?

On financial, ethical and moral grounds the health authority decision surely can't be right.

All the talk from them is of budgets and system constraints but the NHS has failed in its task to help a patient, by not only failing to provide a cure but also failing to treat the symptoms.

Systems are created and rules followed but the primary reason the NHS was set up in the first place - to provide a free level of healthcare to which citizens pay towards all their working life - is being lost.

Shame on you Wandsworth PCT.

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