Legal victory for Leeds children's heart unit

Save Our Surgery (SOS), which is trying to stop the closure of the heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary, argued the consultation process leading up to the changes was "unfair and procedurally flawed".

Today Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, sitting at London's High Court, ruled that the challenge must succeed - but what the victory means for the future will be decided in three weeks.

An SOS statement said: "This judgment is in itself a victory for the people who fought to keep children's heart surgery services in Yorkshire, and to challenge what they knew to be a flawed and unjust process."

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Sharon Cheng from SOS said ruling did not necessarily mean the Leeds heart unit was saved.

Campaigners and those pushing for the closure - which advocates argue will save lives by centralising services - will have to wait for the remedy hearing.

One possibility is that the judge will order fresh consultations, which could throw plans for the reorganisation of children's heart surgery around the country into delay and disarray.

But Ms Cheng said: "We have won this case on every point.

"It doesn't necessarily mean the heart surgery is saved, but fresh reconsideration will have to be given as to what is to happen next and the fight will go on.

"We knew it was time to fight because of the strength of feeling of families.

"The campaign started small, like David and Goliath, then grew and grew out of all proportions.

Almost 600,000 people had signed a petition against closure of the Leeds Unit. The other two threatened with closure include one at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London - which initially succeeded but was overturned on appeal - and at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester ...

The legal challenge stems from a decision last July by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) that paediatric cardiac surgery should be concentrated at fewer, larger sites to improve standards.

At a recent hearing, JCPCT lawyers argued the consultation process was fair and not open to legal challenge - but today the judge ruled the process was flawed.

The sites currently chosen to stay open are at Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton and two London centres.

Philip Havers QC, appearing for SOS, argued the consultation process was unlawful because of a refusal of the JCPCT to release information that could have helped the Leeds General Infirmary better make its case for survival.

The QC said the Kennedy Panel, a group of experts set up to advise the JCPCT, produced "sub-scores" measuring the quality of service at each centre according to various criteria.

But the JCPCT chose only to look at the panel's total scores, and "bizarrely" refused to disclose the sub-scores to consultees until the consultation was over.

Mr Havers argued the sub-scores were crucial. He said if the Leeds hospital chiefs had known how they had been marked they could have made submissions to improve their total score and might have avoided ending among the bottom three centres earmarked for closure.

In her judgment, the judge said Leeds were the most affected by the scoring system because they came bottom of the ranking.

She ruled: "As the scores were relevant to the assessment, the breakdown of the scoring should have been disclosed to the centres whether or not the JCPCT proposed to look at it.

"If there is a public law duty to make information available to a consultee disclosure cannot be denied simply because one party does not wish to look at that information."

But Sir Neil McKay, chairman of the JCPCT, said he was "very disappointed" by the court's decision.

"The pressing need to reform children’s heart services is long overdue and experts have cautioned that further delay in achieving the necessary change would be a major set back in improving outcomes for children with heart disease" -- Thank the Lord for that! and a big well done to all those involved in the challenge ...
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