Fewer hospitals in England should perform children’s heart surgery

Public consultation starts later this month on four newly published options to reduce the number of hospitals in England providing children’s heart surgery from 11 to six or seven.

Safe and Sustainable—the NHS review into the future of children’s congenital heart services in England—put forward the proposals on 16 February. New quality standards are also proposed to ensure better care and survival rates.

While specialist surgical care would be centralised, the NHS would like more expert assessment and ongoing care services closer to families’ homes. The four month consultation launches on 28 February and a final decision will be made later this year.

All centres would need at least …