FOR every theft there is a victim. But what makes the theft of a scanner from Princess Margaret Hospital particularly despicable is that its victims are the most vulnerable you could imagine.

They are people who are literally fighting for their lives. The £30,000 portable scanner was bought so that important tests could be carried out in the intensive care unit.

Now it has gone, nursing staff must again carry out the risky procedure of moving the patients together with all their life-saving equipment. It is possible that the scanner was stolen to order, especially as a similar theft happened at a hospital in Gloucester.

Today PMH appealed for any information that could lead to the retrieval of the machine. We hope that by publishing the photograph of a man caught on CCTV we might hasten that outcome.

Somebody should recognise the man in the white doctor's coat. He needs to be traced, if only to eliminate him from the police investigation. In the meantime, let's hope the thief has a pang of conscience when he realises the impact of his actions.

He may be earning a fast buck but he is doing it at the cost of patients who need all the help they can get in their fight for survival.