Fury as hospital heart service is axed
PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS COMPLAINTS MAY HAVE TO TRAVEL 150 MILES FOR SURGERY
PATIENTS with serious congenital heart conditions have been left stunned after finding out their service is to be axed from Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) has abruptly ended all surgery for adults with the condition due to lack of staffing – meaning those awaiting operations will have to travel up to 150 miles.
But patients say they did not find out about the move until after it had been put in place, telling the M.E.N. they are ‘shocked’ and ‘petrified’ about the implications.
CMFT said the lack of staffing at its adult congenital heart service, part of MRI’s heart centre, was the result of an NHS England review into its future that had made it impossible to retain or hire staff.
In a letter to MPs, chief executive Mike Digan described the decision to end the service as ‘deeply disappointing.’
“This uncertainty surrounding the future of the service in Manchester has meant that key clinical staff have left and due to the nature of their specialist skills, we are unable to secure appropriate locum cover,” he wrote. “As a consequence we will be unable at this time to maintain the complement of staff required to deliver a Level 1 service for Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) within the north west. As an organisation, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is deeply disappointed and regrets that we are unable to continue to deliver this level of service at this time.”
Level 1 units provide care for people needing the most complex diagnosis and surgery. The closure of Manchester’s service leaves no Level 1 provision in the north west – meaning patients will need to travel to Leeds, Sheffield or Newcastle.
Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell said the development was ‘very worrying,’ adding that she had written to health secretary Jeremy Hunt demanding urgent action.
In a statement, CMFT – which has around 125 adult congenital heart patients on its books – said the changes had come about because NHS England’s national review of adult congenital heart services, launched a year ago, had said it was ‘minded’ to remove the service. As a result it had been impossible to retain or hire specialist clinical staff. It said ACHD centres in Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle were working with it to ‘minimise’ the impact on patients.
A dedicated ACHD nurse will remain on site at MRI while most outpatient appointments – including diagnostic tests – would also still take place in Manchester. Non-cardiac surgery for people with ACHD would also remain at the hospital, as well as care for expectant mothers with the condition.
A meeting has been organised for affected patients at 11am today at the Nowgen Centre at the hospital. A spokesman for Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We appreciate the anxiety that these interim changes will have on the wider ACHD community. Patients should attend for their appointments as planned, unless contacted by the hospital directly. Communication with patients is ongoing and any updates will be posted to our website.”