WHAT will historians and students make of some of our society's standards when they will look back?

They will learn that, in Britain 2008, anybody with sufficient cash could pay to have their breasts enhanced or to have their body fat redistributed.

What, though, will be their reaction on discovering that the same society would not fund treatment for a child with a deformed head?

There will be other children in Britain like Alfie Mitchell, whose case we highlight on Page 7 today.

His skull is misshapen. Bones in the 18-month-old tot's head are deformed, leaving a flat area on both sides of his head.

But Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust has refused to find £2,000 for a special cap which could correct his deformity.

Its justification is that the condition of plagiocephaly "has no long-term consequences for physical health and the skull normally remoulds itself".

That may be the case, but has consideration been given here to the psychological impact on such youngsters?

The hope that the deformity will correct itself when they reach adulthood is unlikely to help them cope with the years of embarrassment before then.

What mental traumas they might suffer in that time, likely to inhibit their school progress and thus ruining their chances of fulfilling their potential.

If they need counselling or psychiatric aid to help them cope, the cost of that would have to be set against the £2,000 cost being rejected in infancy.

Nor can they be expected to confidently tackle sports if they have the ever-present worry of injuring their vulnerable head.

There are charities which have been prepared to help the likes of Alfie, giving him the opportunity which the NHS has been unwilling or financially unable to do.

But charities are currently feeling the pinch amid the current so-called "credit crunch", as our report on Page 14 reveals.

If their income continues to dwindle, then people like Alfie and their families will have even less reason to look forward with confidence.

Unless, that is, somebody in government discovers a conscience and reviews just where our priorities should lie.