Statement regarding Cardiac Services

The Trust has issued a statement in relation to a national news story this morning relating to a NHS England report on the transfer of Congenital Heart Services from Blackpool.

The Trust wants to reassure local patients that the decision only relates to a very small part of the centre’s work and will not have any major effect on the Lancashire Cardiac Centre which remains a vital part of local health provision.

Professor Mark O’Donnell, Medical Director of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We at Blackpool have been involved with providing a service for patients with congenital heart disease for more than 45 years.

“We have strict governance built in and we audit our work closely and submit our results to the national database as required. Our results match the best in the country, which is a testament to the remarkable work done by our clinical teams over the past years.  The moves announced are designed to create specialised, regional centres across the country that can deal with such patients and as our numbers are so low we are required to now refer our patients to other centres.

“Discussions are taking place with Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital to ensure that our patients continue to receive the best care for their cardiac condition.

“We would like to reassure our population that the Lancashire Cardiac Centre is established and highly regarded and will continue to provide high quality cardiac services.’’

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