A review of children's heart surgery launched in 2008, by the NHS Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh is likely to lead to four out of 11 children's heart units in England and Wales no longer carrying out surgery.

About 3,600 operations are carried out each year on children in England and Wales born with heart defects.

Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital suspended operations in March 2010 after four children operated on by the same surgeon died in three months. It was later found that the deaths were not due to errors of judgement, but that the surgeon had not received appropriate supervision. It appears that the John Radcliffe, the smallest of the centres will stop surgery but will continue to offer diagnosis and pre and post operation care. 

The ultimate aim is to cut costs and sustain fewer, larger paediatric cardiac centres. The future of units in Leicester, Leeds and the Royal Brompton in London are also in doubt. 

It's clear that the NHS should provide a high quality, safe service in fewer centres, but the reasons for stopping surgery in units such as the Royal Brompton, a centre of excellence, are questionable. It appears that the Royal Brompton is to close because there are two other specialist units in London which, geographically, are too near to the hospital.

Evidently, such stoppages of surgery will lead to strong local opposition. However, it appears that most diagnostic and outpatient treatment will continue to be offered locally. The fact that sick children and their parents will need to travel long distances to undergo surgery could lead to a lack of continuity in care in the long term and cause practical problems for parents. It appears that the NHS review team believes that increasingly complex operations will be carried out around the clock with the transfer of the surgeons to the larger regional centres.

Access Legal from Shoosmiths has a team of medical negligence lawyers who believe that patients' safety is paramount. In our experience, whilst it's useful to have access to local services, it's essential to have experienced doctors dealing with these cases. 

We've found many problems arise as a result of a lack of supervision or doctors who are overworked and under pressure to meet targets. It's inevitable that such problems will only continue with the increased cuts in the NHS.

If you've any experiences where you feel you've received poor treatment as a result of a lack of safety, please call our legal helpline on 03700 86 8788.

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