Children's Heart Unit Consultation Response
24th August 2011
Southampton's Labour MPs, John Denham and Alan Whitehead, have responded to today’s report about the children’s heart unit review, which shows the large and widespread amount of support shown for the children’s paediatric heart unit in Southampton.
The report on the NHS Safe and Sustainable review confirms the amount of support each option has received from the consultation process which took place earlier this year.
Option B, which includes Southampton’s paediatric heart unit, received fewer individual responses of support than Option A (featuring Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital). However Option B received far greater support from organisations than any other option in the consultation. Southampton’s Option B also received the widest support from across the country, outside of the East Midlands and South Central regions which had exceptionally high support for Options A and B respectively.
Southampton’s paediatric heart unit is rated as excellent for its training and innovation, its management of paediatric intensive care and its support for children. In addition it has exceptionally high survival rates for children in intensive care.
The final decision on the future of the children’s heart unit in Southampton will be made at the end of the year.
Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, said:
“This report is not the end of the road. But it is very telling that the option that included Southampton received the broadest base of support, not just from local people but from medical and patient organisations across the country. It would be perverse for Ministers to discount this breadth of support for Southampton when the final decision is taken later this year.”
John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said:
“This report shows that Southampton has the most widespread support across the country, especially here in the South who will suffer enormously if the children’s heart unit in Southampton is closed. The reason for this high support is because Southampton is rated as the second best paediatric heart unit in the country, with excellent levels of patient care and support. Every parent and guardian wants the highest possible quality for their children’s healthcare, and that’s what they get in Southampton”.
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