Parents protest in defence of region’s child heart surgery

Hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration at the Royal Armouries in Leeds yesterday as NHS chiefs told two well-attended consultation meetings about proposals to reconfigure children’s heart surgery services in England.

Campaigners fear surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital could end as it is included among only one of four potential options – and of these, it is the fourth choice.

There were angry scenes as parents shouted opposition to proposals which will see 11 centres reduced to six or seven.

Surgeons and others based at Leeds were among those critical of an option which could lead to their unit’s closure.

The need for fewer centres was outlined by Professor Roger Boyle, the national director for heart disease and stroke, who said the current number of children’s heart surgery centres caused problems with the training of consultant surgeons as the teams were too small.

Arguments for saving or closing units in either Leeds or Newcastle were “very finely balanced”, he added.

He rejected claims that babies would die as a result of the changes. However, critics claim that travelling times would put lives at risk. Prof Boyle said: “Big centres are necessary to provide optimal care. When we deal with parents’ groups at a national level they say repeatedly they would travel to the other side of the world if that was necessary.”

He maintained that Leeds had an advantage over Newcastle because of the size of the population – but Newcastle’s advantage was it already had several specialist heart services, including a transplant facility.

After being barracked during a two-hour meeting, Prof Boyle said: “We are obviously not popular in this room and I accept that. I don’t have a clear view as to which option is best, but the bigger centre model is worth supporting.”