Although welcoming the findings that the Leeds heart unit is not unsafe, the UK’s leading children’s heart charity is disappointed.  Their concerns about children’s heart services at Leeds General Infirmary were not taken into account in the review that has been released today.

The Children’s Heart Federation say although the report addresses death rates of surgery and is pleased that they are not excessive, it failed to investigate the concerns regarding morbidity and the number of repeat surgeries, which they had raised with the Care Quality Commission back in 2011.

The charity welcomed recommendations that addressed the unacceptable care received by the families who were interviewed in the report.

Anne Keatley-Clarke, Chief Executive of CHF says: “We welcome the report’s recommendations that address the unacceptable care received by the families interviewed in the report and we look forward to working with the hospital and NHS England to ensure the recommendations are implemented”.

“We are pleased that the mortality rate for the children’s heart surgery at the LGI is not excessive. We are however concerned that issues we raised with the CQC back in 2011 have been totally missed from the report. These include the quality of heart surgery and repeat operations, along with the morbidities of children who had received treatment at Leeds General Infirmary”.

“We look forward to seeing the third strand of the review which investigates concerns that have been raised by other clinicians in relation to inter-unit transfers and patient pathways and hope that the future report will address our concerns”.

The full report can be read here.