More than a decade after Sir Ian Kennedy’s inquiry into child heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary called for major improvements in treatment across the country, representatives of primary care trusts have concluded that three of the 10 remaining child heart surgery units will no longer operate.
The unit at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has already stopped operating following a number of deaths in 2010.
The remaining seven units will expand to become “centres of surgical expertise”, with the view that fewer, larger child heart surgery units will prevent surgical expertise being spread too thinly across the country.
From 2014, outreach services will expand so children receive ongoing care, including check-ups and appointments closer to home and there will be efforts to increase the number of children’s specialist cardiac nurses and paediatricians with expertise in cardiology across the country.
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