Health: Cardiology

Baroness Masham of Ilton Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

As my noble friend knows, the children’s heart surgery unit in Belfast is not part of the Safe and Sustainable review as it is the responsibility of the healthcare systems in the devolved Administration. It is for the Northern Irish health service to take a view on the safety and sustainability of those services and to consider the recommendations that flow out of the review in this country. We will, of course, share the learning from our experience in England, but I emphasise again that this is a matter for the NHS, and not Ministers, to resolve.

[Baroness Masham of Ilton]

My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that the north of England is a special case because of deprivation, long distances and cultural problems around the Bradford area? Does he agree that both Leeds and Newcastle need their children’s heart surgery units, and that deprivation is an important factor as far as travelling is concerned?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I agree that deprivation is an important consideration. The population density of the West Midlands conurbation and the very high case load of Birmingham Children’s Hospital suggested that the Birmingham service should be, as it were, a fixed point. However, I am afraid that the same cannot be applied to Leeds because although the Leeds catchment area has a high population it has a much lower case load than that of Birmingham. The analysis of the expert group suggested that there needed to be two centres in the north of England because of the population density; that was either Liverpool and Leeds or Liverpool and Newcastle. It was not possible to have a Leeds and Newcastle combination since Newcastle could not achieve a credible network.