Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what detailed analysis have been undertaken into current and projected congenital heart disease patient flows in (a) London and (b) the South East and East of England and into the capacity of units in London to meet those flows.
NHS England has undertaken an analysis of current patient flows and how these might be affected if it was minded to take action to ensure providers comply with the new national commissioning standards for congenital heart disease services for children and adults. The analysis has been shared with all the providers concerned for their comments, to provide assurance of their ability to accept additional patients if required to do so and to ensure that capacity would be available to provide care for patients in the future.
The Department has received a number of pieces of correspondence in recent weeks about congenital heart disease services at the Royal Brompton Hospital.