WHETHER and when a patient undergoes heart surgery is entirely a decision for the doctors. We are merely pointing out to those doctors that we cannot afford many operations at the moment.

This, in essence, is how North Yorkshire Health Authority is justifying its position on the heart surgery scandal.

British Medical Association spokesman Dr Peter Holden has a more straightforward assessment. "This smacks of balancing the books rather than dealing with people's health."

Dr Holden is right. The bean counters, rather than the surgeons, are dictating when a patient is treated. Financial pressures have warped the authority's priorities.

Understandably, doctors at York District Hospital are furious, and have blamed the authority's cash crisis for the postponement of 40 operations. The authority hit back today, by saying it had funded a third more operations than planned.

Meanwhile, patients such as Jean Pittman are caught in the crossfire.

As we reported yesterday, Mrs Pittman is one of those whose surgery has been delayed for another two months in order to push it into the next financial year.

Her heart problems leave her in a lot of pain and seriously undermine her quality of life. Even before the latest delay, she was on a four-month waiting list for coronary angioplasty.

This is a remarkable procedure which allows surgeons to clear blocked arteries using thin balloons threaded through the veins. It prevents heart attacks and saves lives. But there is little point in developing such techniques and training surgeons if patients' chances to benefit from them are hindered.

The Government has made heart surgery a priority, and boasted this month that operations have increased by 10.5 per cent. North Yorkshire Health Authority stresses that it too has boosted surgery levels.

But while patients such as Jean Pittman feel money is being put before their lives, ministers and health chiefs should restrain from bragging too loudly.

Updated: 10:52 Thursday, February 07, 2002