Mum says unit which saved her son’s life needs our help
A MUM from Hinckley whose baby was treated at Glenfield Hospital has urged people to sign the petition to stop the heart unit being decommissioned.
Stacey Bruce’s son George was admitted to the hospital at just six weeks old and it was discovered his heart was severely failing.
He was diagnosed with Atrioventricular Septal Defect - a hole in the heart - and spent nearly the whole of 2015 in the hospital, including four months in intensive care. After two operations he got to go home at the end of November.
Thankfully, now aged 18 months, George is in good health.
However, the facility’s future is now under threat after NHS England claimed the heart unit surgeons at Glenfield are not carrying out enough operations to maintain and improve care and ensure quality and consistency.
Since the announcement was made public figures such as Police and Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach and Bosworth MP David Tredinnick have come out in support of the hospital.
The NHS set a target of 125 operations a year, a figure which was labelled “arbitrary” by Mark Wightman, the hospital trust’s director of communications. He also suggested that there was no scientific evidence to support the figure and that the NHS should instead look at the unit outcomes, its zero mortality and its actual results.
Two petitions have also been launched by members of the public with more than 30,000 signatures between them.
Stacey said: “I’m absolutely disgusted. I would like to know where Jeremy Hunt gets the idea that there’s poor standard.
“We never heard any parent say anything bad about the treatment or staff there. When you’re living there day to day they become you’re family and there work and dedication is amazing, especially as they’re looking after people that have never been in that situation before.”
One of Stacey’s main concerns is that if the hospital closes, George would have to travel to somewhere such as Birmingham or London for check-ups or treatment.
She added: “When we go to the outpatients department, we meet people who have travelled from places as far as Lincolnshire and beyond and I keep hoping that one day I’m not one of those people.
“It’s stressful enough when you have a screaming baby being prodded before taking him down to London.
“The surgeon who works at Glenfield has already operated on George twice and knows him in case anything went wrong in the future.
“I’m worried that if this hospital closes, that other ones will be full and they’ll rush people through, meaning George and other children won’t get the care that they need.”
As well as the emotional and physical strain of having to spend all day in the hospital, his brother Charlie also struggled without Stacey and her partner Kyle Ward. Although as the hospital was so close, Charlie was able to visit on the weekends and stay in the parents accommodation, giving the family crucial time to spend together, something other families were not so lucky to have.
As well as Charlie, George also has another brother and sister called Lewis, 13, and Sophie, 11.
Despite the testing year, Stacey emphasised the fact that the doctors and nurses at Glenfield helped them through it immensely.
She said: “We used to sit and think ‘why did this happen to us?’
“But meeting the doctors and nurses who do amazing and tireless work shows that there are some people left in the world who do still care.”
To sign the petitions against the closure of Glenfield Hospital, visit www. change.org/p/jeremy-hunt-mp-savethe-east-midlands-congenital-heartcentre-at-the-glenfield-hospital and you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/saveglenfield-children-s-hospital