THE case of Margaret Dixon - the pensioner at the centre of party political point-scoring after her operation was cancelled seven times - shows that the National Health Service is far from perfect.

It is clearly an unacceptable situation and the Tories cannot be blamed for seizing the opportunity to use it to hammer the Government.

However, our front page story today, outlining the progress which has been made on heart surgery waiting times, shows another side of the health service picture.

According to "Heart Tsar" Dr Roger Boyle, no one will wait longer than three months for heart surgery by the end of March. That is a huge step forward from the launch of our "Chance To Live" campaign six years ago following the death of our colleague Ian Weir.

Three months was the target set by the campaign because it would bring Britain into line with other parts of western Europe. By the end of the month, that objective will have been achieved and - party politics aside - it is right to give due credit to the role played by Darlington MP Alan Milburn in laying the foundations during his time as Health Secretary.

But at the same time, those other European countries have also made progress, meaning that the gap is still there, and that there is considerable work left to do.

No one should pretend that a three-month wait for heart surgery is good enough - but it is a good deal better than it used to be.

And although disturbing cases remain as reminders of the failings of the NHS, the evidence from Dr Boyle is that there has been real progress.