Patient safety

Leeds surgery decision ‘unlawful’

Save Our Surgery (SOS) has won the High Court challenge against the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trust (JCPCT)’s decision to close the children’s heart surgery unit at Leeds hospital.

The judge acknowledged that the consultation into heart surgery services was comprehensive, but focused on the role of the JCPCT panel which scored each specialist centre against quality standards.

The JCPCT refused to provide further information about how these scores were awarded, including the sub-scores for each centre.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies said the JCPCT “failed in its duty to properly scrutinise and assess all relevant evidence before making its decision” and added that information about the sub scores may have impacted on the final decision concerning Leeds.

The JCPCT said the case for reconfiguration of surgery services "remains strong".

Sharon Cheng of Save Our Surgery said: “Winning this case in the High Court proves once and for all that the supposed consultation was a rubber stamping exercise conducted with an outcome in mind, with clinicians, MPs and patients fooled into feeling they had influence.

“This ruling supports our firm belief that patients’ needs should be at the forefront in determining where heart surgery services are located. It also supports our assertion that children’s heart surgery service provision must reflect today’s realities, not those of ten years ago.

“We will now wait to understand the next steps in terms of what this decision means for the overall Safe and Sustainable Review and its implementation, along with the outcome of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel review requested by the Secretary of State for Health, which will be completed at the end of March.”

Sir Neil McKay CB, chair of the JCPCT said: “I am very disappointed with the Court’s decision. The pressing need to reform children’s heart services is long overdue and experts have cautioned that further delay in achieving the necessary change would be a major set back in improving outcomes for children with heart disease.

"The judgment focuses on a single matter of process, but the case for the reconfiguration of children’s heart surgical services remains strong. There is a rare consensus on the need for change right across the board – NHS staff, medical royal colleges, professional associations and national charities all support the case for fewer larger surgical centres, new national quality standards and stronger networks of care.

"The consultation - which we undertook with an honest and open mind - was the largest carried out by the NHS and respondents were staunch in their support of the need for change. There is nothing in the Court’s judgment that supports the Claimant’s accusations that the consultation was a “rubber stamping” exercise." 

RCN chief executive & general secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said: “The Royal College of Nursing believes that concentrating surgical expertise and developing expert cardiology services gives children with complex heart conditions the best quality care. In addition, many children often have other complex conditions alongside heart problems, so it is vital that there are experienced and highly trained teams of nurses and surgeons in these centres.

“Today’s ruling demonstrates the strength of feeling which parents understandably have when change is considered. However it is important that these issues are resolved quickly, to ensure that every child receives the expert care which will give them the best possible chance.”

There will be a subsequent hearing in three weeks time when the Court will decide on the remedy following this decision.

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