Alan's submission on the future of children's heart units
5th July 2011
Alan Whitehead has made a full submission to the consultation on the future of children's heart units across Britain, highlighting both the excellence of the unit in Southampton and the problems with the way the review has currently being framed. As part of Alan's work on this consultation, he has...
- Completed the formal consultation document, advocating the configuration of heart units outlined in Option B.
- Spoken in Parliament about flaws in the review.
- Along with local parents, children and other MPs from the south-east, handed in a 225,000 strong petition to Downing Street supporting the future of the Southampton unit.
- Met with patients, staff and executives about both the importance of the Southampton unit and the flaws in the consultation process.
You can read Alan's covering letter on the review below.
Safe and Sustainable
NHS Specialised Services, 2nd floor, Southside,
105 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 6QT
Dear sir / madam,
Last week I completed your online consultation document on the future of Children’s Heart Services. I would like to add this letter to submission to the consultation process.
As I stated in my online submission, I would strongly urge the adoption of the configuration of heart units as outlined in Option B. Option B has the centres scoring highest for quality; has the overall best survival rates; has centres already engaged with complex surgical procedures; and provides excellent access to patients across the country.
In addition to these points, I also wish to raise concerns with the remit of the consultation exercise. In 2010, Southampton was rated by Sir Ian Kennedy as provider of the highest quality service outside London, rating it particularly highly on paediatric intensive care and support for parents, and highly on training and innovation. I am therefore genuinely surprised that the process has not recognised the scale and significance of the work done at the Southampton unit, typified by the retention of the Southampton unit only being in one of the four options outlined in the consultation document.
The lack of recognition for the work done by the Southampton unit appears, in part, to stem from basic mistakes in how the original review was constructed. The fact that the Isle of Wight was not taken into consideration when the configuration options were drawn up is deeply concerning. The review also states that Southampton has two surgeons and undertakes 231 procedures, when in fact it will have four surgeons by this summer and undertake almost 400 procedures.
There is also, I believe, a more basic problem with the way the review assesses paediatric heart surgery in isolation. One of the areas in which the Southampton Heart Unit in particular excels is the follow-up work with children who have previously been patients at the heart unit, including going on into adulthood. The ability of hospitals to integrate their services and provide joined up, high-quality and long-term care is difficult to assess in the consultation format as given. I am very concerned that this will lead to a skewed view that does not properly reflect the full extent of the service provided by Southampton, and indeed other heart units across the country.
Taking these additional points into account I believe only strengthens the case for Option B, or for the reconsideration of options outside the four currently allowed for. I hope these points can be acknowledged in the review process, to ensure the review delivers what is genuinely the best, most sustainable and most accessible configuration of services.
Yours sincerely
Dr Alan Whitehead
Labour MP for Southampton Test
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