HIGH demand seems to be the never-ending reason for the health service lurching from one crisis to another.

It is the reason ambulances are struggling to reach patients in time, it is the reason why people are waiting for hours in accident and emergency, and now it is the reason hundreds of operations have been cancelled in Oxfordshire.

There is no doubt that the service is under pressure but, with a mild winter and no major incidents, it is hard to see where this high demand has come from.

Perhaps health bosses need to look deeper at the provision and changing trends so that an increase in users does not leave them crippled, as it seems they are at the moment.

Of course, much of that depends on funding from the Government, which can be seen as the root cause, with cancelled surgeries the symptom.

The NHS will be one of the key battlegrounds during the General Election this May. Sadly, the political parties are currently using it as a policy football.

But rather than scoring points against each other, they need to tackle the problems at the heart of the service.

For while they postulate and procrastinate over who will cut what or fund which, patients are suffering.

All parties should be ashamed that between them our health service has reached this state.

While agreeing politicians is as rare as a free hospital bed, they must put differences aside to ensure this crisis is solved.