Charity’s £1.9m towards new children’s cardiac theatre

WORK HAS now been completed on a groundbreaking new heart surgery theatre for children in Leeds.

The multi-million pound children’s cardiac ‘hybrid’ theatre, based at Leeds Children’s Hospital, will soon offer life-saving surgery to babies and children with congenital heart disease. Cuttingedge equipment for the facility has been paid for by the hospital’s Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) charity, which yesterday handed over a cheque worth £1.9m to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Some £500,000 of the cash was raised thanks to the generosity of Yorkshire donors, through the charity’s Keeping the Beat campaign, which launched in 2016.

Leeds Children’s Hospital’s congenital heart unit takes in young patients across Yorkshire in need of specialist care for congenital heart disease.

The theatre, which will offer heart surgery and procedures by cardiac catheter, also called keyhole surgery, will accept its first patient in March.

Sharon Milner, chief executive at CHSF, said: “We’re delighted to present this cheque to the trust, and would like to thank our supporters for the fundraising which has led to this milestone.

Central to our charity vision is providing the best possible future for congenital heart patients, and this new facility will offer exceptional specialist care to babies and children for generations to come.”