A Lincolnshire mum has said her eight-year-old son may not have survived his ordeal if it was played out again under NHS proposals to reduce the number of hospitals in the country delivering surgery on heart defects from birth in children and adults.
Zena Barclay was speaking at a recent public consultation event held at the New Life Centre, in Sleaford, on reorganisation plans by NHS England to ensure consistent standards for congenital heart disease (CHD) services for children.
The changes are expected to take effect from early next year, but the consultation panel insist input from patients, families and staff will help shape decisions.
The proposals would see a shift to fewer, specialised hospitals where more operations would be carried out to ensure agreed levels of excellence, including teams of at least four surgeons each doing at least 125 procedures a year for greater experience.
Missing out is University Hospitals of Leicester, which currently serves Lincolnshire patients, who would instead go to Birmingham or even Leeds.
Mrs Barclay, of Heckington, told how her son, Jack, now eight, may have died within 24 hours of being born in Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, with an undiagnosed heart defect if it had not been for the proximity of a team from Leicester who risked driving in a snow storm to treat him.
Article from The Boston Standard, 18 July 2017