What a sad commentary on our NHS that patients like Richard Ramsey are having to go abroad for treatment.

He flies to Denmark every six weeks to receive a drug which he hopes will delay the advance of his renal cancer and prolong his life.

The Danish authorities are happy to provide the drug Nexavar at their expense.

Contrast that with the policy of our NHS, which has refused to administer or fund the treatment.

It is little wonder that Mr Ramsey and his Danish-born wife are angry.

They interpret the British response as "we have done all we can for you, go away and drop dead".

The approach in Denmark, in their eyes, is the reverse - "this is what we can do for you."

The positive and negative are easy to see.

No-one knows, not even Mr Ramsey, how long he has to live.

But surely, in a civilised country like Britain, we should be giving terminally ill patients some quality of life and even the minutest hope for the future?

Sadly, as we have reported, Mr Ramsey isn't the only patient to be treated in such a cavalier fashion.

Unless our NHS policy makers start to show some heart, we can expect other similar cases in future.