Following a national review of paediatric heart centres in
England, it has been recommended that the heart surgery unit at the
John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford should close. Children's heart
surgery has been suspended there since March 2010 after 4 children
who underwent heart procedures that were conducted by the same
surgeon, died.
The review was in response to the 1990's Bristol heart babies
scandal and it found in particular, that the John Radcliffe took on
more cases than it could safely handle in a bid to avoid
closure.
It has also recommended that 4 or 5 of the other smaller centres
in the country be closed because "pooling surgical expertise into
fewer, larger centres is in the best interest of the children and
their families."
Simon Parford, a Partner and head of the clinical negligence
department at Wolferstans commented that, "I appreciate the
disappointment the families in the Oxford area must feel as a
result of the closure of the unit, but the long term objective is
children's health and their safety, and this must always be
paramount".
If you have or know someone who has been injured and may have a
medical negligence claim please contact us now for a free
confidential discussion.