Glenfields service axe '˜not thought through', say county campaigners
Plans to transfer congenital heart disease (CHD) surgery away from Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, due to its failure to meet standards laid down by NHS England, have been branded as “not thought through” by a committee overseeing health services in Lincolnshire.
Members of Lincolnshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee echoed the concerns of Boston heart surgery survivor Chantilly Milverton (21), guest speaker at last year’s Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian Education Awards.
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Hide AdChantilly said: “I’m very sad and disheartened to see that CHD services are being removed from Glenfield as I’ve been treated there and its staff showed me amazing care.
“I know how many other patients from Lincolnshire who have been treated at Glenfield appreciate the care it provides when nearly one in every 100 babies are born with CHD.
“I don’t think it’s a decision that would have been made had an analysis of the patients they care for and also the emergency services they provide that are life-saving been done beforehand.”
Committee chairman Coun Christine Talbot said: “We are concerned at how suddenly this has been put forward and without the necessary consultation.
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Hide Ad“We do not believe NHS England have thought through the full implications of stopping these services and I will be writing to NHS England immediately, on behalf of the committee, to remind them of their duty to carry out a full public consultation.
“If they inform us that they do not intend to carry out this consultation, we will not be letting this rest as the committee has agreed that this would be a trigger to begin more formal discussions with NHS England to put this case forward.”