I wouldn’t send my kid to LGI says government research chief

Professor Sir Roger Boyle, director of the National Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, which oversees NHS mortality data, told the BBC that care at the centre was “on the edge of acceptability”.

Surgery at the hospital was suspended at the end of last month after NHS England said it had “serious concerns” that data showed the unit had a death rate double that of other centres. It resumed again on Wednesday. Background to the story

Sir Roger said that despite safety assurances, a comprehensive analysis of data at Leeds General Infirmary called for the children’s cardiac unit to remain under supervision.

He told the BBC: “We find they’re just on the edge of what we call an alert. In other words, showing that they were right on the edge of acceptability.”

He added that he would not send his children to Leeds. “I would go somewhere else,” he said. “I would go to Newcastle.”

Yesterday it emerged that 10 sick children have had to be transferred up to 120 miles during the suspension of surgery, including Birmingham, Alder Hey in Liverpool, Newcastle and Leicester.

NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh insisted that his move to suspend children’s heart surgery in Leeds was not a “knee-jerk reaction”.

He said he could not “sit on” data about high death rates without doing something about it.

“Thirteen years ago there was a massive public inquiry into children’s heart surgery in Bristol and only two weeks ago the Government reported on a massive public inquiry into events in Mid Staffordshire,” he said.

“One of the characteristics that was common of both of those was that people argued about data when it was presented, they argued about how reliable it was, whether the analysis was correct and in the mean time patients were harmed.

“I don’t think as medical director of the NHS I can sit on information like that - I think pause and clarification is absolutely the right thing to do.”

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said today: “On Monday we announced that we were reopening the children’s heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary having had the quality of our service independently verified by the Care Quality Commission, NHS England and the NHS Trust Development Authority following a rapid review process which took place over the weekend.

“All partners were fully in agreement that this was the correct course of action to take and surgery has now resumed.

“This was publicly reconfirmed at a meeting of councillors held in Leeds on Wednesday when the deputy medical director of NHS England reaffirmed the view that all the child heart surgery units in England, including Leeds, are safe to undertake surgery.”

Sharon Cheng, of Save Our Surgery (SOS), which campaigned for surgery to be resumed at Leeds, said: “Sir Roger Boyle’s comments of this morning are extremely unhelpful and undermine the progress made over the last few days to begin to rebuild heart patients’ families’ trust and confidence in the Leeds children’s heart surgery unit.

“His implication that surgery should not have been resumed at Leeds contradicts everything we have heard from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and NHS medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh, who have all stated unequivocally that the unit is safe, hence their resumption of surgery.

“Sir Bruce himself went on record this week saying he would feel comfortable having his child operated on in the unit.

“All relevant parties, including representatives of the Central Cardiac Audit Database, the source of the data, have said that Leeds’ mortality rates are within accepted ranges.”

She added: “Over the last five years, Leeds’ figures have been comparable with other centres and the latest data supports this.

“Let me be absolutely clear - the Leeds unit would not be operating if there were any concerns whatsoever about mortality rates or anything else.

“Once again, this is an example of Sir Roger Boyle speaking out without due regard to the necessary process, the verified facts or the implications of his actions on patients and their families.

“He is not an impartial party in regards to Leeds and as an adviser to the Safe and Sustainable review, we do question his motives.

“We are now asking that the independent reconfiguration panel complete its report so that families can be completely confident in the quality of care that heart units provide to their children.”