My son has been left absolutely petrified...

SAMANTHA Parsons, whose 23-year-old son, Saul, has a highly complex congenital heart defect that has previously seen him spend 13 hours on life support, said she only found out about the decision to axe the MRI service on Wednesday night – despite it having come into effect on June 19.

After Saul’s last operation three months ago she was told the service would be back in touch about a further procedure needed due to dangerous volumes of blood returning to his heart.

However, she says her calls were not returned until this week.

“On Wednesday night we had a phone call from the cardiac liaison nurse to say she’d like to apologise for not being in touch but was I aware Manchester’s heart centre was in crisis?” she said. “That’s what she said, I made a note of it.

“She said staffing at NHS Manchester’s heart centre meant it could no longer provide services for adult congenital heart patients. She said Leeds and Newcastle were the nearest centres to deal with his congenital heart disease, but the best place was Newcastle.”

However, the nurse said Saul had not yet been referred to Newcastle – 150 miles away – because Manchester was still in negotiations over where patients would go.

Samantha, 49, a teacher from Denton, said the news had left them devastated. “I’ve not slept,” she said. “The whole family has been in turmoil and my son is absolutely petrified.”