DURING the General Election campaign, David Cameron pledged to “cut the deficit not the NHS”. Posters sprang up like daffodils all over the country with his promise. And Mr Cameron is an honourable man, so we voted him in.

Yet, according to The Patients’ Association (PA), birth centres are closing, patients are being denied pain-relieving drugs, advice leaflets on cot death avoidance have been scrapped, together with an NHS booklet for new mothers whose visits from health professionals have also been cut.

Nurses who manage diabetes have been cut. In fact, all nurses and midwives are diminishing in numbers.

Patients who would previously have expected urgent treatment for cataract, bariatric and hernia operations are slipping down the lists and out of sight.

The invaluable Birth to Five booklet, outlining essential feeding and immunisation guidelines, is to go online to save money, thus ensuring it is beyond reach of the most vulnerable.

Andy Cole, the chief executive of the baby charity, Bliss, says: “The large scale reduction in the number of nurses in England’s neonatal units will result in deaths.”

And the blameworthy bankers pocket their bonuses, while Mr Cameron rides in his limousine.

An honourable man? You be the judge.

Rob Meggs, Hartlepool.