Director appeals for support to retain CHD services

In a letter to John Alder, chief executive of University Hospital Leicester, Will Huxter Regional Director of Specialised Commissioning (London Region) confirmed the plans to close. The letter said: “You will be aware that NHS England has been assessing CHD services against the new standards approved by our board in July 2015 and which came into effect in April this year. We are grateful for all the hard work of your staff in helping us to complete that assessment. Details of the process are shown in appendix 1. We have now completed our assessment and I am writing to you to report our assessment of your organisation’s compliance with the standards and the action that we are minded to take as a result. Following our assessment we consider that your organisation does not meet all the April 2016 requirements and is unlikely to be able to do so. As a result of this assessment we are minded to cease com- missioning level 1 CHD services from your organisation. I am enclosing a copy of our assessment for your review and comment. You will have until close of play 5 July to respond with any comments you may have on the factual accuracy of our assessment. We will then consider your response and confirm our final assessment with you, at which time we will set out our proposed next steps. Our regional team will contact you shortly to confirm these arrangements. In the event that our assessment remains that your organisation does not meet all the April 2016 requirements and is unlikely to be able to do so we expect to initiate a service change process. There will be appropriate further local engagement before that service change process reaches a final decision on the future of services at your hospital. We are taking these steps because we believe that they are in the best interests of patients with congenital heart disease and their families, including those yet to be diagnosed who will need these services in future. We believe that by ensuring that all patients across the country are able to benefit from services that meet agreed national standards, the quality of care they receive will be improved. We hope that you will support us in these aims and that you will work with us in the interests of patients and their families to ensure that sound decisions are taken, and once taken that they are implemented effectively and efficiently. The uncertainty about the future of CHD services has been unsettling for staff and for patients and their families for many years. While this process is designed to bring that uncertainty to an end, it is inevitable that during the coming weeks and months fresh concerns will emerge and we hope and expect that you will work with us to reassure patients and their families and your staff who are potentially affected by any changes if they are decided on.”