Leading heart surgeons say it is down to ‘people power’ to convince a decision-making panel to retain Yorkshire’s only children’s heart surgery unit.
Around 50 people were at a meeting at Bradford’s Cedar Court Hotel on Saturday, organised as part of the Save Our Surgery campaign by the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
Speeches for the unit’s survival at Leeds General Infirmary were delivered by Mike Blackburn, the unit’s paediatric cardiologist, and Kevin Watterson, its consultant cardiac surgeon.
An NHS Safe and Sustainable review into England’s paediatric surgery includes four options for the future delivery of services for children in the north of England and only one retains Leeds.
A four-month public consultation started over a month ago. A decision will be announced in November.
Mr Watterson said: “We need to generate a ripple from here to lobby as we have probably never done before. A small number isn’t going to do it.”
He urged people to collect petitions, write to MPs, councillors and PCT chief executives urging them to oppose the closure and answer an online questionnaire .
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