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Children's heart surgery: Edwin Poots to announce plans in assembly Children's heart surgery: Edwin Poots announces review
(about 4 hours later)
NI Health Minister Edwin Poots is expected to announce his plans for the future of children's heart surgery in Belfast to the assembly on Monday. An international team of experts will assess the current and future needs for children's heart surgery in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Families of critically ill children awaiting surgery said they have been left in limbo because of the delay. The review has been commissioned by health ministers in both jurisdictions amid fears that Belfast could lose its children's cardiac unit.
The most favourable option is to create an all-island network. In the meantime Dublin will continue to support Belfast.
It would see Belfast and Dublin working together to provide a first class, but more convenient, service for families living in Northern Ireland. Current arrangements will remain in place for at least six months while the review is carried out.
Health officials from both sides of the border have spent months attempting to reach a solution. It is significant that it has been commissioned by both health ministers - Edwin Poots in the north and his southern counterpart, Dr James Reilly - an indication of just how positive and productive relations are between the men.
The timing is now critical as Belfast's lead surgeon Prof Freddie Woods retires on Monday. The international team will be chaired by Dr John Mayer, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Boston's children's hospital.
Deadlock Third specialist
That means there will only be one remaining paediatric surgeon at the Clark Clinic in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. He will be joined by another expert from the USA. .
Therefore, Belfast would be relying on surgeons from Dublin to keep the surgical unit in Belfast open. A third specialist has still to be named.
Local health officials have been trying to break the deadlock by devising a rota that would include the names of surgeons who work at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin. The review will examine the need for cardiology and cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease on an all-island basis.
For that to happen surgeons from Dublin would have to agree to travel to Belfast at least one day a week. It is to be completed and handed to both ministers by June next year.
Talks have gone down to the wire, with mounting pressure on Mr Poots to announce his decision to the assembly. Mr Poots announced the review in the assembly on Monday.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, Robin Swann MLA said he believed the announcement would be more of an update than a decision. Belfast's lead surgeon Prof Freddie Woods retires this week.
Ideal solution Keep unit open
Mr Swann's 10-month-old son recently returned from Birmingham where he received heart surgery. There will only be one remaining paediatric surgeon at the Clark Clinic in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
He said that an all-Ireland dual-site approach to surgery would be the ideal solution. Therefore, Belfast will be relying on surgeons from Dublin to keep the surgical unit in Belfast open.
As previously reported by the BBC, an American cardiologist, who runs a twin centre in Boston, may act as an advisor on how a similar model could operate between Belfast and Dublin. Northern Ireland health officials have been trying to devise a rota that would include surgeons who work at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin.
If that is the case the health minister may need more time - something he will say is necessary if he is to achieve the ultimate goal of an all-Ireland children's cardiac service. Under that arrangement, surgeons from Dublin would have to agree to travel to Belfast at least one day a week.
Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann said: "We thank the minister for establishing a team of clinicians, rather than managers, for the assessment."
Children's Heartbeat provides support to Northern Ireland families affected by heart disease in children.
The group said: "We welcome the minister's announcement that an all-island assessment of children's heart surgical service has been commissioned and which is specifically tailored to address the needs of children and adults with congenital heart disease in Northern Ireland."