NHS urges people across the North West to have their say on the future of children’s congenital heart services
The NHS has launched a major four month public consultation on
the way children's congenital heart services should be provided in
the future. The NHS is urging everyone with an interest in
children's congenital heart services to take part in the
consultation and have their say on these vital services. Full
details are on our website: www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/safeandsustainable
The North West Congenital Cardiac Network provides cardiology
and cardiac surgical services to patients right across the region
as well as to residents of North Wales and the Isle of Man. Alder
Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is the cardiac surgery centre
for children in the region and features in all four of the options
out for public consultation.
Alder Hey works in partnership with Central Manchester
University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Royal Manchester
Children's Hospital) as part of a managed clinical network.
Clinicians from the two hospital trusts hold outreach clinics for
patients in district general hospitals as far afield as Barrow,
Rhyl, Crewe and Stockport.
A consultation event for parents, patients and the public will
be in held at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington on Monday
9th May between 6pm and 9pm. Registration for this event
is now open. To register please go to : https://www.eventsforce.net/safeandsustainable
Children's heart surgery is complex and becoming increasingly
specialised. The NHS Safe and Sustainable review aims to
improve outcomes for children with congenital heart disease by
introducing new national quality standards, developing children's
heart networks and pooling surgical expertise. Safe and
Sustainable is proposing four options to reduce the number of
hospitals providing children's heart surgery from 11 to six or
seven to improve results for children. The review also proposes
that many non-surgical services, such as diagnosis, assessments and
ongoing care, are provided closer to families' homes.
Leslie Hamilton, Immediate Past President for the Society for
Cardiothoracic Surgery and Vice Chairman of the Safe and
Sustainable Steering Group said: "This consultation is about
improving the quality of care for children with congenital heart
disease (CHD). We must concentrate surgical expertise in larger
(and therefore fewer) centres to ensure we produce better outcomes
for children and ensure services are safe and sustainable for the
future. I urge patients and families to respond to the
consultation. This is the most important opportunity people will
have to directly influence the outcome of the consultation."
The NHS will be holding a series of consultation events across
England and in Wales, including three events specifically for young
people, so that the public can find out more about what the
proposed changes may mean for the services in their region.
Safe and Sustainable has also produced a video, available
on the website, clearly communicating the aims of the review and
featuring interviews with families of children who have CHD.
No decisions about the future of any of the existing surgical
centres will be made until after the consultation. An independent
third party will collate all the responses and a comprehensive
analysis will be provided to the Joint Committee of Primary Care
Trusts, the decision making body for the Safe and
Sustainable review, to help evaluate the four options. A
decision on the future of children's congenital heart services is
expected in late 2011. Those centres that are not chosen to
continue to carry out surgery will not close. Instead, it is
envisaged that they may become children's cardiology centres.
To access the online consultation document and to complete an
electronic version of the response form please visit: www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/safeandsustainable
ENDS
The NHS will be holding consultation events in England and in
Wales between March and June. North West event is:
Monday 9th May 2011 6.00 pm - 8.00 pm - Warrington
Halliwell
Jones Stadium
The options for reconfiguring the service
are:
Option A
Seven surgical centres at:
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle
Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool
Glenfield Hospital, Leicester
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
2 centres in London
Option B
Seven surgical centres at:
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle
Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Southampton General Hospital
2 centres in London
Option C
Six surgical centres at:
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle
Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
2 centres in London
Option D
Six surgical centres at:
Leeds General Infirmary
Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
2 centres in London
London
The preferred two London centres in the four options are:
Evelina Children's Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
For more information:
Jo Stringer, Head of Communications & Engagement,
North West Specialised Commissioning Group
T: 01925 406017 or 07824 639605
E: jo.stringer@nwsct.nhs.uk
Notes to Editors:
1. The options were announced on 16th February at a
meeting of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT), the
decision-making body for Safe and Sustainable
2. The consultation will run until 1st July 2011.
3. Safe and Sustainable is being managed by NHS Specialised
Services on behalf of the ten Specialised Commissioning Groups in
England
4. Safe and Sustainable will be consulting on
the following four key areas:
· Standards of care: the proposed national quality standards of
care to be applied consistently across the country
· Congenital heart networks: the development of networks to
co-ordinate care and ensure more local provision
· The options: the number and location of hospitals that provide
children's heart surgical services in the future
· Better Monitoring: improvements for analysis and reporting of
mortality and morbidity data
5. Safe and Sustainable recommendations have been
agreed by a committee of NHS specialist commissioners from all
areas across England, known as the Joint Committee of Primary Care
Trusts
6. For background information on the review and the process for
delivering the recommendations please go to: www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/safeandsustainable
