Children's Heart Surgery (Leeds)

Julian Sturdy Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

I completely agree. When I worked at Martin house, we found that one of the big problems was the travelling distances—some people lived on the coast in Scarborough, for instance. It is very important that families are able to get to a centre quickly, because when a child is sick they want their mum and dad there—and we want that when we are a bit more than a child too. These facilities must be accessible, therefore.

[Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)]

I too congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate for our region. Many of my constituents in York are very concerned about the potential closure, which would mean that they would go to Newcastle, so my hon. Friend makes a good point when he says this is about the whole region. Because of the lack of transport links on the eastern coast of our region, it could be greatly affected by the closure, and I do not think sufficient account has been taken of that.

[Stuart Andrew]

Given the location of Leeds and the extent of the population all around it, it seems very odd that Leeds is not being considered.