NHS England has said there will be a formal public consultation about its plans to close the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre.
It follows a meeting in London between the centre’s chief executive, Jonathan Adler, and Jonathan Fielden, director of specialised commissioning at NHS England.
Last month, The Voice reported on the decision to close the centre based at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester next year, due to it not meeting new standards.
Spalding couple Christer and Francesca Larsson backed the objections. Their daughter Sofia’s life was saved at the centre and they do not want to see patients and parents having to travel further for care.
A petition on the parliament.uk website calling for a public review into the closure decision has attracted almost 15,000 signatures. That is enough to trigger a response from the Government, but 100,000 are needed to force a debate.
A public consultation is likely some time between October and December. As the first step in pre-consultation, the senior NHS England Team will visit the centre early next month.
Mr Adler said: “The fact that NHS England have now committed to a proper public consultation on their ‘intentions’ is good news.”
Meanwhile, Coun Christine Talbot, chairman of Lincolnshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee, said members felt that NHS England had not “thought through the full implications of stopping these services for very sick children and babies in Lincolnshire and across the East Midlands”.
