Specialist and complex heart surgery is being moved out of Greater Manchester in a bid to “sustain high quality services for the future”.

As it stands, Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust – which runs the likes of Manchester Royal Infirmary and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital – is the only trust in the region to offer the surgery to patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).

But NHS England have announced today (Friday) that the service is being scrapped, and instead patients needing specialist treatment will have to travel to either Alder Hey Children’s Hospital or the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

The decision comes following a series of reviews into CHD services in the wake of the Bristol heart scandal in 2001 which investigated the deaths of 35 babies undergoing heart surgery in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Last year, after extensive consultation with patients and their families, clinicians and other experts, NHS England published new standards for those offering specialist and complex surgery.

It said that by 2021, providers must have four congenital cardiac surgeons to ensure cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that each of those must perform a minimum of 125 surgical procedures a year to ensure that skills and standards are maintained and improved.

Children and adults services must also be co-located to ensure effective transition for patients and shared skills.

Each trust was asked to assess itself against the standards and report back and CMFT, with just one surgeon, was unable to meet the criteria so the decision was made to remove the service.

It’s understood the move will impact less than 100 adult patients a year.

(Image: James Maloney)

NHS England says it will now work with the trust to try and maintain “Level 2” specialist medical services – which can include procedures such as repairing a “hole in the heart”.

However, Level 2 services are to be axed at University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM), which runs Wythenshawe hospital.

This would leave just CMFT, if the service was retained, offering Level 2 across Greater Manchester.

Dr Jonathan Fielden from NHS England said: “Patients, families and staff need to be assured of sustainable, high quality services now, and into the future.

“There has been a great deal of uncertainty over the future of congenital heart disease services over the past fifteen years. We owe it to patients, families and staff to end that uncertainty, and to provide clear direction for the safety and quality of this specialist area of medicine going forward.

“A great deal of work has gone into achieving consensus across the board on the standards that providers should meet. We are determined to take all actions necessary to ensure that those standards are met, so that patients get the high quality and safe services that they expect and deserve.

“This is further proof that NHS England as the national commissioner of specialised care is stepping up decisively on behalf of patients now and to sustain quality care for the future.”

CMFT commented: “We have worked hard to develop proposals to improve the way in which care is organised in the North West and are disappointed by the decision NHS England has made, but are clear that the care and wellbeing of our patients is paramount. To that end we are seeking urgent clarification from NHS England on the practical details of the transfer process and timescales, so that we can reassure our patients and staff and try to address their concerns.

“Our priority will be to work closely with colleagues in both NHS England and Liverpool to make the transition as safe and smooth as possible for our patients and their families.”

A spokesperson for UHSM said: “UHSM does not provide a Congenital Heart Disease service, however we have treated a small number of adult patients in previous years. We will work with NHS England to support the changes that have been announced today.”