Leeds Heart Unit Deaths Investigated

21 June 2013, 16:33 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

NHS England has confirmed it is looking into the deaths of 30 children at the heart unit at the LGI.

They died over a four-year period from 2009 to 2013.

1,500 operations were performed there during this time.

A spokesman for NHS England said: 

'NHS England is undertaking an investigation into paediatric cardiac surgery at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the first part of its findings have been published.

'The investigation is now looking into mortality, concerns of parents and concerns raised by fellow professionals in other parts of the country.

'The findings of the second part of the investigation will be published in due course.''

Operations at the unit were temporarily suspended earlier this year following concerns about mortality rates.

The unit was closed for eight days while officials carried out the first part of their review, before surgery resumed on April 10.

Plans to shut the Leeds unit, along with those in Leicester and west London, were put on hold by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt earlier this month.

It was after an independent review suggested that the consultation process ''left too many questions unanswered''.

Mr Hunt asked NHS England to continue with the process of looking into the reorganisation of children's heart surgery and asked them to report back by the end of July.

The original decision to close the three units was part of a general review of children's heart services across England based on the premise that there was a need to concentrate expertise in more specialist centres.