There can be fewer situations more heart-breaking than when a baby or small child is diagnosed with a serious illness or condition.

But the situation can, distressingly, be made even worse for the families when they are told that treatment is not available on the NHS.

That is what has happened to Shantelle Hirst and John Barnsather, whose son Toby was diagnosed at the age of four months with a condition called Plagiocephaly, also known as "flat head syndrome".

Toby has to wear a special helmet until he is at least two, for 23 hours a day. There is a treatment available for his condition, but it is deemed by the NHS to be a cosmetic treatment - and thus the family will have to find £2,000 to pay for it.

It seems very difficult to understand that a condition diagnosed as a severe case and which is materially affecting the life of a small child is thought to be something that ought to be treated as though it was a case of vanity.

We all know that the NHS is stretched very thinly in places and that budgets are incredibly tight, but surely whoever made this decision needs to look again and authorise full treatment for little Toby.

Shantelle and John should be like any other proud parents - watching their infant son develop and grow and learn to find his place in the world, not worrying about how they can find the money to privately treat a condition they have been told is not important enough for NHS treatment.