A NORTH-EAST liver transplant surgeon blames hard-drinking George Best, back on the bottle after splitting with his wife, for putting people off donating organs.

But is he really that surprised? If we agree to give recovering alcoholics new livers, we have to accept that they just might just start drinking again. Alcoholism is, after all, a disease and sufferers are prone to relapse.

Newcastle's Freeman Hospital's Derek Manas, who gave Brian Clough life-saving surgery, praises the former Nottingham Forest manager, who has stayed off drink since his operation, as a good example. "He is a far better role model to other transplant patients," he says.

But this puts tremendous pressure on Mr Clough. Anyone who has drunk so heavily and for so long that their liver is on the point of collapse has clearly got enough of their own personal demons to deal with without bearing responsibility for the future of the transplant service too.

Best and Clough are popular, well-known figures and, of course, we all wish them a full recovery. But there are thousands of others just like them living more anonymous lives and facing the same problems. Many will have lost homes, jobs and suffered broken marriages and relationships. They may have a new liver, but their craving for drink hasn't gone. In an ideal world, none of them would ever touch another drop again. But if we are going to try to help, we must do just that, and not rush to point the finger of blame when it all goes wrong.

I AM glad my 15-month-old son had already had his MMR jab before I watched Channel 5's powerful, but one-sided, drama Hear The Silence, which linked the triple vaccine with autism. Otherwise, I might have fled the country with him to escape the hordes of sinister GPs desperate to poison Britain's infants to earn a few extra pennies. At least, that's what Hear The Silence suggested.

For all its hysterical self-righteousness, however, the drama did highlight a serious problem. The number of autistic children has risen from one in 200 in 1988 to one in 86 today. Even allowing for better detection, that's a whacking great increase. The Government seems to be spending huge resources on reassuring parents MMR is not the cause - but why isn't more money being spent on finding out what is? Or on working to find cures or improve treatment? Too many people cannot see beyond the highly charged MMR controversy. In the meantime, I fear we are letting down a lot of children, who desperately need our help.

HAVE you not got round to doing any Christmas shopping yet? Not even written a Christmas card? Let me guess: you must be a man.

But this year, it looks like men have got it right. Those of us who bought everything weeks ago can only look on in amazement as prices are being cut by half, with most stores starting their sales early. Next year, I'll rush round on December 24 doing all my Christmas shopping in one hour flat. Last-minute shoppers have every right to feel smug.

FOR those still stuck for last minute gift ideas, a cosmetic surgeon in County Durham is offering vouchers for plastic surgery treatments. Dr Alan Patterson says the lucky recipients can exchange the vouchers if they don't want them. Perhaps they would do better to exchange their partners.