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Royal Brompton's child heart unit is earmarked for closure
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A London NHS trust is to challenge proposals to end child heart surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust said the move would mean the loss of other services, which could call into question its viability.
An NHS review into child heart units proposes stopping operations at either four or five hospitals, including the Royal Brompton.
But the trust has branded the recommendations "fundamentally flawed".
The Joint Committee of PCTs (JCPCT) has proposed four options - all of which involve stopping operations at either four or five hospitals.
A total of 11 units are under review including services at three London hospitals: The Evelina Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Brompton Hospital.
A final decision will be made in the autumn following a public consultation.
The trust's board said that the recommended options put for consultation were so flawed that a consultation based on them would be "unlawful".
The trust also questioned the fact that the main body influencing the decision to reduce London's three centres to two included representatives from the other two London hospitals under review, but not any from Royal Brompton.
It claimed that representatives from Great Ormond Street and the Evelina played an active role in the decision which favoured their own centres at the expense of Royal Brompton.
The trust is now applying for judicial review, challenging the legality of the consultation.
Two separate approaches have been made to the JCPCT in order to avoid legal action.
The trust said that the first request to delay the start of the consultation was rejected and that the JCPCT failed to respond to a request to suspend the consultation while its concerns were heard.
A spokesperson for the trust, said: "Although this is a decision we have taken with the greatest reluctance and regret, we feel we have no alternative but to act in the interests of our patients.
"What we cannot accept is that a large, successful centre like Royal Brompton is not even included as an option in the consultation process, despite it being of the required size and despite its impressive record."
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest such centres in Europe.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Royal Brompton's child heart unit is earmarked for closure Related Stories
A London NHS trust is to challenge proposals to end child heart surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust said the move would mean the loss of other services, which could call into question its viability.
An NHS review into child heart units proposes stopping operations at either four or five hospitals, including the Royal Brompton.
But the trust has branded the recommendations "fundamentally flawed".
The Joint Committee of PCTs (JCPCT) has proposed four options - all of which involve stopping operations at either four or five hospitals.
A total of 11 units are under review including services at three London hospitals: The Evelina Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Brompton Hospital.
A final decision will be made in the autumn following a public consultation.
The trust's board said that the recommended options put for consultation were so flawed that a consultation based on them would be "unlawful".
The trust also questioned the fact that the main body influencing the decision to reduce London's three centres to two included representatives from the other two London hospitals under review, but not any from Royal Brompton.
It claimed that representatives from Great Ormond Street and the Evelina played an active role in the decision which favoured their own centres at the expense of Royal Brompton.
The trust is now applying for judicial review, challenging the legality of the consultation.
Two separate approaches have been made to the JCPCT in order to avoid legal action.
The trust said that the first request to delay the start of the consultation was rejected and that the JCPCT failed to respond to a request to suspend the consultation while its concerns were heard.
A spokesperson for the trust, said: "Although this is a decision we have taken with the greatest reluctance and regret, we feel we have no alternative but to act in the interests of our patients.
"What we cannot accept is that a large, successful centre like Royal Brompton is not even included as an option in the consultation process, despite it being of the required size and despite its impressive record."
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest such centres in Europe.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
