Formal end to NI child heart surgery

Northern Ireland's health minister has formally accepted proposals for a single, all-Ireland children's heart surgery centre, based in Dublin.

Jim Wells' final decision on the issue means the service at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) will cease.

The move had been expected, following a series of expert reviews saying it was unsustainable to retain it in Belfast.

The reviews said too few operations were being performed at the RVH to meet international heart surgery standards.

Insufficient numbers

Mr Wells had already signalled his support for the proposal last October, and children from Northern Ireland have been travelling to Dublin for heart surgery for some months.

In a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Wells said: "While I fully understand the concerns expressed about the ending of surgery in Belfast, we really had to accept this given the overwhelming clinical evidence that we simply do not have sufficient numbers of patients to meet the very rigorous international standards required for the treatment of this condition."

Following a public consultation on the issue, Mr Wells has now published a cross-border document setting out guidelines for the new all-Ireland service.

The guidelines set out the framework for the establishment of a single congenital heart disease network across the island of Ireland, as recommended by the International Working Group (IWG) on Congenital Cardiac Services.

Travelling distance

The framework was agreed between Mr Wells his counterpart in the Republic of Ireland, Irish Health Minister Leo Varadkar.

Mr Wells told MLAs: "The model proposed by the IWG means that these children will have their surgery in Dublin within a reasonable travelling distance from their homes with their pre and post operative care being delivered in Belfast."

Formal end to NI child heart surgery