The fate of Yorkshire’s centre for children's heart services will be decided tomorrow.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will make his long-awaited announcement on how many of ten centres scattered around England will close.

Among the ten are the heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary, which was earmarked for closure, almost one year ago, by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT).

But that decision was thrown up in the air when Save Our Surgery group (SOS) won a High Court ruling that the process was legally flawed.

Mr Hunt asked an independent panel to review the entire future of children’s heart surgeries and will reveal his conclusions in a statement to MPs today.

Today the Health Secretary further raised the hopes of the SOS group, when he praised the unit at Leeds General Infirmary for doing “an excellent job”.

In March, surgery was suspended at Leeds for 11 days, after leaked data suggested worryingly high death rates – but it was later found to be incomplete.

Professor Sir Roger Boyle was stripped of his role on the review panel, after he said he would not allow his own daughter to be operated on at the under-threat unit.

However, answering health questions, Mr Hunt also warned MPs: “Where there are difficult reconfiguration debates to be had, we will not duck them.”

The proposal to cull some heart units was triggered by the 1990s scandal in Bristol, when up to 35 children who underwent heart surgery died unnecessarily because of poor care.

Experts agree that the country has too many centres, which means doctors carry out too few operations to build up the necessary expertise.