News story

Next steps for children’s congenital heart surgery

The next steps for reviewing the provision of children’s heart surgery across England have been published by NHS England.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Plans for a workable solution by June 2012 have been set out by NHS England chair Sir Malcolm Grant in a letter to the Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt.

The plans aim to ensure that future generations have the best possible quality of care, better outcomes, a positive patient experience, and consistently high levels of safety.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

We want to listen to the views of patients and clinicians to hear what they think will provide the safest and highest standard of services for patients and their families.

I look forward to receiving further updates on this work from NHS England, and reaching a conclusion in the best interests of patients and families across the country.

NHS England is leading a rethink of plans to improve children’s heart surgery following an independent report on a review that assessed the quality of care given to children born with a serious heart condition.

Read the NHS England news story.

Published 9 August 2013