We shall never know, of course, whether cancer victim Jim Wheeler would have lived longer had he been given the drug Sunitinib.

But it is a question that will no doubt forever haunt his family and friends.

Mr Wheeler is not the first to be refused the treatment on the NHS - and he will not be the last.

The sad fact is that while patients in some parts of the country can get the life-prolonging drug, others elsewhere are refused it.

Government must get to grips with the issue so that everyone is treated equally wherever they live.

This so-called postcode lottery NHS must be brought to an end now.