Carrick man backs cardiac campaign

The campaign comes in response to a recently published review which suggested paediatric cardiac surgery is unsustainable in Belfast and should cease.

If the recommendations in the report were to be implemented, children could face travelling to England for treatment in the future.

“The review found that children in Northern Ireland with congenital heart disease are well served by a dedicated and experienced paediatric cardiac team in Belfast who provide a wide range of cardiology services. There are many excellent features in the current service that present opportunities for the development in the future of a model children’s cardiology centre,” said HSCB Chief Executive John Compton of the report.

“The Review Panel did not identify any immediate safety concerns presented by current arrangements, but given the small population in Northern Ireland and the relatively low numbers of children needing such specialised care, the Review Panel concluded that it was not sustainable for surgical services to be provided in Belfast in the future.”

Local dad Allan McCullough, whose 15-month-old son Jay was born with congenital heart disease, expressed his concern at the impact the recommendations could have on local families.

“Jay was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at 26 weeks, and we’d already known there might be something from the 20-week scan,” said Allan, from Windslow Drive in the town. “His condition is called double-outlet right ventricle (tetralogy of Fallot type) - it’s one of the more common ones but still very serious. He had surgery when he was three months old at the Clark Clinic in the Royal; the service there from the nursing staff, cardiologists and consultants was second to none. It was comforting for us to know that sort of unit was available just up the road.”

Jay is due to travel to Birmingham next week for surgery, something which would become the norm if services were to cease in Belfast, says Allan.

“The recommendations in the report haven’t been implemented yet so Jay is going to receive his treatment there for other reasons, but if they did take away the service from Belfast that would only leave two options,” he added. “Sick children can either go to Dublin, which is already operating at full capacity in terms of children’s heart surgery, or Birmingham.

“This will be very difficult for children with heart conditions if they now have to fly to England for treatment; if they get there and it’s found that they’re not well enough to be operated on, even if it’s just the sniffles for example, they’d most likely get sent home again.

Read the full story in this week’s Times...