Billions of pounds are being pumped into the National Health Service by the Government to make it what the public wants and needs.

Yet daily there are distressing tales of people who are receiving a service that would not be considered acceptable in a Third World country.

Take the case of retired police inspector Denis Boddy. He spent more than a day in the accident and emergency department of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, waiting for a bed to be found for him.

Mr Boddy, who has a range of severe health problems, was in great pain during his ordeal and his wife is understandably disgusted at the long wait he had on a trolley.

It is totally unacceptable that this sort of thing should be happening in a prosperous country at the dawn of the 21st Century.

Many other patients in pain have to wait far too long in this department which should be the front line service of any hospital.

The Government has a huge task rebuilding the NHS after years of underfunding. But the suspicion is that its obsession with waiting lists for more minor complaints is working to the detriment of patients in real need such as Mr Boddy.