Not very often I link to an E&S story, but this tale of TVs being removed from Wolverhampton’s New Cross hospital got me fuming.

So not only are we now charging sick people to watch a bit of telly (just in time for Christmas, you’ll note), none of the proceeds from this are going to fund the NHS and the private firm involved has been handed a 15-year contract. You read that right - 15 years.

As a licence to print money, this takes some beating.

Oh, and as someone who’s already had some experience of Patientline, when my late stepfather was in Stafford District General, I can reveal that the most irritating thing about this service is the fact that you cannot turn it off, and are more or less forced to watch the endless loop of commercials which play when the unit is not in use.

Who are the sick ones here, I wonder?