Leeds children’s heart unit at risk as experts agree cuts

EXPERTS are set to agree recommendations which will see a cut in the number of units performing children’s heart surgery, in a move which could affect Leeds General Infirmary.

All 11 units in England are affected by the review, which was first launched following the Bristol baby heart scandal of the 1990s when children died needlessly.

An inquiry, led by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, said children should have heart surgery in fewer centres which would be more specialist. The idea has received huge support from a range of organisations, including the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They believe change is needed because some centres cannot provide appropriate 24/7 care, and argue that cutting the number would lead to fewer deaths and complications. They also point to wide variation in the expertise available at centres, and low caseloads which make it difficult to maintain and develop staff skills.

It is thought larger centres are better placed to recruit new surgeons and plan for future surgery. But opponents say the changes mean parents will have to travel further to visit their very sick children and some units under threat are performing well.

A further report from Sir Ian will be published which contains details of standards at all 11 units. This and other reports will be considered at a public meeting today of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts. Options agreed at this meeting will go to public consultation, which will run from February 28 to July 1.

The 11 units under review are: Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool; Birmingham Children’s Hospital; Bristol Royal Hospital for Children; Evelina Children’s Hospital, London; Freeman Hospital, Newcastle; Glenfield Hospital, Leicester; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London; Leeds General Infirmary; Oxford John Radcliffe Hospital; Royal Brompton Hospital, London; Southampton General Hospital. Oxford’s John Radcliffe has already stopped its operations following several deaths last year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Labour MP Hilary Benn is calling on the Government to keep open the unit at the Leeds General Infirmary, which he says serves the whole of Yorkshire and beyond. “There is real danger that the Leeds unit will be earmarked for closure,” he said.

“If this happens, it would mean worried parents and sick children having to travel elsewhere for treatment. I have seen for myself the great work that the team at the LGI unit do. We need to support them by keeping the unit open.”

Jo Webber, deputy policy director of the NHS Confederation, said: “The evidence of centres where there have been shortcomings in care in the past, alongside the views of experts in the field, has made the case for fewer centres providing better care an overwhelming one.”