Video: Think again on closing Leeds heart unit, MPs urge

There will now only be two hospitals in the north of England capable of carrying out complex cardiac operations on children, MPs said, forcing many families to travel to London for treatment.

The independent review of services was flawed, MPs said as they urged Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to intervene and reverse the decision.

Ten Labour and Conservative MPs claimed the decision went against Mr Lansley’s promise to put patients first as they voiced their anger at Wednesday’s announcement to close the surgery unit, along with specialist centres at the Royal Brompton Hospital in west London and the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

The move comes after an NHS review concluded expertise in the field was spread too thinly across 10 sites and should be concentrated in fewer hospitals.

Commons leader Sir George Young said he recognised the depth of feeling amongst MPs, telling the Commons the decision to close the unit in Leeds was taken to increase the number of operations carried out by surgeons.

But this explanation did not satisfy MPs in the Commons. Labour MP for Huddersfield Barry Sheerman said MPs’ concerns about the closure of the unit were “ignored”. He said: “Yorkshire has been downgraded in terms of services for children and this is a very important service.”

His Labour colleague Nic Dakin, MP for Scunthorpe, said the decision “disregarded patient choice”, as he called for Mr Lansley to give an urgent statement to MPs before referring the decision for further review.

Tory Jason McCartney, MP for Colne Valley, said he had recently had a teenager on work experience who had undergone treatment at the unit.

He said: “I, and most of my constituents, are absolutely appalled at this decision to close Yorkshire’s only children’s heart surgery unit. I believe that patient flows and parent journeys have not been given enough due consideration in this decision.”