Pressure is growing on NHS boss over heart unit U-turn: Questions asked after hospital stopped operations over safety concerns before restarting ten days later
Britain’s most senior doctor was under pressure yesterday to explain why the NHS closed a children’s heart surgery unit over safety concerns then re-opened it only ten days later.
Paediatric heart surgery was suspended at Leeds General Infirmary on March 28 amid concerns over mortality data that suggested it was double the national average.
The hospital has been told it can resume ‘lower-risk’ operations from today. Subject to further checks, it will also re-start higher-risk operations by the end of the month.
Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of NHS England, said: ‘We have now been given assurances by independent assessors that the immediate safety concerns, which were bubbling up from a variety of sources, have been addressed.
‘We now need to explore some of the wider issues around how the unit operates as a whole.
‘I hope we will soon be able to give the unit a full clean bill of health beyond this immediate reassurance of safety.’
The NHS has still not published the mortality data on which it based its decision to suspend the unit.
The Fragile Heart support group, for parents whose children died or suffered damage following operations, said surgery should not have resumed while questions remained.
Michelle Elliott said: ‘The NHS initially said they needed three weeks to investigate this thoroughly.
Concerns: Paediatric heart surgery was suspended at Leeds General Infirmary (pictured) on March 28 amid concerns over mortality data that suggested it was double the national average
‘We are disappointed because we feel our issues haven’t been listened to properly yet. The NHS has been under intense pressure from MPs and the local councils to re-open the unit and we feel they have bowed to that.’
'There is now a serious question mark hanging over the medical director of NHS England and we need leadership from the Secretary of State'
Leeds North-West MP Greg Mulholland
He insisted they had not caved in to pressure but admitted he may have ‘acted on inaccurate data’ submitted by the hospital.
Leeds North-West MP Greg Mulholland said: ‘There is now a serious question mark hanging over the medical director of NHS England and we need leadership from the Secretary of State so that people in Leeds and nationally get to the bottom of this fiasco.‘I have written to the Secretary of State and asked him to order a full investigation into this closure.