Heart operations on children were suspended at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford earlier this year after the babies died within a few months of a new surgeon starting work there.
The NHS safe and sustainable review team assessed the 11 paediatric heart centres in England to decide which were to become larger regional centres of excellence, and which were to close.
In a steering group meeting yesterday, it was decided John Radcliffe hospital was the least likely of the 11 to meet all the necessary quality standards.
In a statement posted on the hospital’s website today, a spokesman said: “This is very disappointing news for Oxford.
“The John Radcliffe hospital is one of the smallest centres in the country, but we had hoped that the safe and sustainable team would recognise the potential that Oxford has in terms of geographical location and the presence of other connected clinical services on site.”
Children’s heart surgery was suspended at the unit, the smallest in England, in March after four babies died under the care of surgeon Caner Salih.
An investigation carried out by the South Central Strategic Health Authority published a report on the deaths in July and concluded Salih was not to blame, but highlighted issues within the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals (ORH) NHS trust, including a lack of preparation for his arrival.
The spokesman continued: “The ORH board will now wish to consider the implications of this recommendation and will want to continue discussions with the safe and sustainable team about the future of specialist children’s heart services.
“We know our patients, their families and our staff will be very disappointed at this news and hope they will continue to participate in shaping the future of children’s cardiac services when the formal consultation begins in the new year.”
Andrew Stevens, director of planning and information at the hospital trust, said: “Oxford is one of the smallest centres and the main thrust of the safe and sustainable review is that there should be fewer, larger paediatric cardiac surgery centres in the future. It is perhaps therefore not surprising that Oxford was felt to have the highest mountain to climb.”
About 120 operations were carried out at the unit each year. An inquest into the death of one of the babies, Natalie Lo, who died aged 23 days, is to be held in Oxford at the end of the month.
The Guardian UK