04.04.13
Suspended Leeds child heart surgery should be ‘immediately restored’
The future of child heart surgery at Leeds General Infirmary could be decided today, with the hospital in talks with NHS England and the CQC.
Operations were suspended at the unit last week; just a day after campaigners won a court case against its permanent closure.
Medical director Sir Bruce Keogh suspended operations after data showed that mortality figures were higher than expected – twice the national average. The meeting today will also consider concerns on the number of surgeons available in the unit.
Cllr John Illingworth, chair of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “At this summit we are hopeful that the issues which resulted in the temporary closure will be fully addressed and that these critically important services will be immediately restored.
“Our prime concern throughout this process has been the welfare of the children concerned and limiting the anxiety of their parents and families, and we hope the restoration of services in Leeds will remove the current uncertainty and provide some comfort to them at this exceptionally difficult time.”
Sharon Cheng, director of the Children's Heart Surgery Fund for the Leeds unit, responded: “We have had an onslaught of these complaints since our court case. If these issues were there, they should have been made a long time ago. There is no case to answer. We have to look at why this has been done and we have to look at the timing. It concerns me. We had just won our court case and within 24 hours they suspended surgery.”
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