Children's heart services review 'flawed'

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A Conservative MP has said that a review of children's cardiac units contains "significant factual errors".

Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), who secured yesterday's adjournment debate on the future of the unit at Leeds general infirmary, said the Yorkshire and Humber region "has one of the highest population coverages among all the units in England, with 5.5 million people".

The NHS plans to reduce the number of children's heart units in the UK from 11 to six or seven.

Andrew told the House that before he became an MP, he spent "a considerable part of my career in the children's hospice movement".

"During that time, I built up a great deal of understanding of the issues faced by families who have a child who is very poorly."

"The review has already published four options, and I am surprised and disappointed that Leeds features in only one of those," he said.

"It is my belief that if the Leeds unit closes, it will leave a huge gap in provision, from Leicester or Birmingham in the south, to Newcastle in the north, and Liverpool to the west.

"It will mean that children from Yorkshire, north Derbyshire and north Lincolnshire will have to travel long distances, at considerable expense to their families."

Andrew said Sir Ian Kennedy and his assessment panel visited every children's heart surgery unit in England.

"They produced individual assessment reports on each of the units two weeks before the presentation meeting at the joint committee of primary care trusts on 16 February.

"At the meeting, the four reconfiguration options were presented.

"They were based on a number of factors contained in the panel's assessment reports.

"However, I understand that there are significant factual inaccuracies in Sir Ian Kennedy's report on the Leeds unit, and that its representatives were given no opportunity during the process to comment or request amendments of the factual inaccuracies before decisions were made about the configuration of the options for consultation."

Andrew Jones (Con, Harrogate and Knaresborough), Alec Shelbrooke (Con, Elmet and Rothwell), Julian Smith (Con, Skipton and Ripon), Julian Sturdy (Con, York Outer), Craig Whittaker (Con, Calder Valley), Nic Dakin (Lab, Scunthorpe) and Barry Sheerman (Lab, Huddersfield) all spoke up in support of Andrew.

Former cabinet minister and shadow Commons leader Hilary Benn (Lab, Leeds Central) said he has "the honour of representing" Leeds general infirmary.

"I want to convey to the House the depth of feeling about and the strength of support for the Leeds unit," he said.

"The determination of the thousands of parents whose children's lives have been saved by the unit and of the millions of parents who hope that the unit will continue should their children face the same difficulties is very powerful.

"This debate, which is very timely, is part of the campaign we are waging because we are determined that the Leeds unit should remain open.

"The minister will soon get a request to receive a delegation from the large number of members who represent constituents who have benefited from the unit's work and who hope to benefit in the years ahead; it is good to see so many of them here.

"We will not rest until the unit is declared safe for the future in the interests of the people whom we have the honour to serve."

Health minister Simon Burns began by explaining "the genesis of this review".

"For years, experts in the field, including professionals and national children's charities, have urged the NHS to review services for children with congenital heart disease," he said.

Burns stressed that after a public consultation, the final decision on centres in England will be taken by primary care trusts on behalf of local NHS commissioners.

"Leeds general infirmary is included in one of the shortlisted options that went out to consultation on 1 March, and the consultation will continue right through until 1 July," Burns told the House.

"There are also public events taking place during the four-month consultation, and there is one in Leeds on 10 May at the Royal Armouries museum.

"I want to pick up on the point that my hon. friend made about inaccuracies in Sir Ian Kennedy's report.

"In response to the 'Safe and Sustainable' interim report last summer, the report's team received correspondence from the trust about concerns on inaccuracies.

"The team thought that they had addressed those in the final report in December, and I can only assume that that information is correct, because the trust has made no further approach to the team on the concerns about the information in the final report.

"I hope that that clears up the problems identified between the interim report and the final report in December.

"I also want to emphasise that no decision has been made on which centres should continue to undertake surgery.

"That will be decided only after the responses to the consultation have been properly and fully considered.

"I give that assurance to hon. members today."