NHS bosses told ‘hands-off’ over heart surgery

There was a determined mood, which at times turned combative, as hundreds of people demonstrated their opposition to plans which could see children’s heart surgery axed in Yorkshire.

Families brought toddlers along to the Royal Armouries in Leeds for a protest and two consultation meetings which attracted about 300 people.

Campaigners fear changes to services could spell the end of heart surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

Among those expressing their anger was Cathy Baines, who was accompanied by her son Seb, 14, who suffers from three heart conditions.

She described the possible closure as “devastating”, and added: “At the moment we are 10 minutes from help if there is an emergency with Seb. I want to know what the future is for him.”

As the mood inside the consultation meeting turned angry, parents accused NHS bosses of bias and of already having made up their minds to axe Leeds – an allegation that was strongly denied.

Among those who challenged facts and figures issued during the consultation was Mike Blackburn, a consultant cardiologist at Leeds General Infirmary, who said that many Yorkshire-based patients would be more likely to travel to Liverpool if the Leeds unit closed.

He suggested that figures had been “engineered” to back the case for retaining Newcastle over Leeds.

He said: “I don’t think your patient flows are going to happen and maybe your Newcastle (plan) is not a viable option.”

There was applause as parents and grandparents made the case for the children’s heart surgery remaining in Leeds.

Grandparent Juli Boocock, of Cracoe near Skipton, accused the NHS panel which is overseeing the consultation process of “generalising”.

She could not understand why Leeds was one of the centres facing the possible axe when it had many services “under one roof”.

The need for change was outlined by former York cardiologist Professor Roger Boyle, the national director for heart disease and stroke, who emphasised that he was not actually part of the decision-making process.

He told the Yorkshire Post that the need to reduce the number of centres had been identified 10 years ago but “we have been struggling to get this to stick for a long time”.

Prof Boyle told the audience of parents, patients and health workers that the reorganisation of services was about making improvements in the quality of care and not about saving money.

He said: “One thing is absolutely clear, since I became national director there is very strong evidence, and the view from professional bodies and the charitable sector, is that we need fewer, larger centres.”

Prof Boyle said surgeons were becoming increasingly stressed and some were “burning out” because the current rotas for children’s heart surgery were “unsustainable”.

He said there were many procedures that surgeons had to learn when operating on children’s hearts and mentoring was difficult with 11 centres.

Because the number of surgical procedures in some children’s heart surgery centres was small, it was not possible to know for certain whether the survival rates were as good as they could be, he added.

“This is about driving up quality and striving for excellence, it is not at all about saving money.”

He denied claims that the decision to axe Leeds had already been taken and that the NHS team was “biased” in favour of Newcastle, and added: “Everyone has behaved impeccably. I know these people. Their integrity should not be challenged.”

After the meeting parents gathered outside for a demonstration. Pudsey Conservative MP Stuart Andrew told the protesters that the campaign against closure continued, and added: “Keep up the excellent fight to keep our surgery open.”