Leicester children's heart services are safe after national review

Children's heart services at Glenfield Hospital were threatened with closure in 2012

Children's heart services in Leicester have been secured after a new vision was approved by a national board.

The unit at Glenfield Hospital was threatened with closure in 2012 with the nearest service in Birmingham.

A series of changes have now been proposed by NHS England following a national review into children's heart services across the country.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said the changes would see the unit move to Leicester Royal Infirmary.

'Been listened to'

On Thursday, NHS England unanimously agreed the proposals and indicated it expected the new system to be up and running in hospitals by April 2016.

Presenting the review, Ian Dodge at NHS England, said it had been "conclusive, open and transparent and rigorous".

He said: "Our analysis shows these proposals are affordable and deliverable, bearing in mind existing workforce constraints.

"These are national standards and we expect national standards to continue to apply."

Rob Sissons, health correspondent, BBC East Midlands Today

At one time this unit was going to shut and it would have been the end of services in Leicester.

Now there is talk of it surviving but it will need collaboration between Glenfield and other units up and down the country.

The recommendations passed this morning mean they will have to go from two surgeons to four and they will have to build up their case load.

It won't be a walk in the park but the hospital says they think the service can survive.

As part of the changes the children's heart service will move from Glenfield Hospital to Leicester Royal Infirmary

Kate Shields from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said the review would push them to provide excellent services for children and their families.

"We have worked for a really long time to show that we can sustain heart services in Leicester and we are now at the point where we feel that we have been listened to," she said.

She added the trust was already working on the proposals submitted by NHS England.

The hospital wants to move all children's heart unit onto one site at the LRI in the next three years and increase the number of procedures it carries out within the next five years.