Weymouth family campaigns to save the Ocean Ward at Southampton General Hospital

A WEYMOUTH family has collected almost 1,000 signatures in their fight to save the heart unit that saved their baby daughter’s life.

Lisa and Ian Green launched a petition to save the Ocean Ward at Southampton General Hospital, where two-year-old Amelia was treated.

The children’s cardiac unit is under threat as health bosses look to cut the UK’s 11 units to six or seven.

Their petition went into shops, schools, banks, supermarkets and to family and friends, and the family has been touched by the ‘fantastic’ response.

Read more on this story here.

Save unit for kids like Nancy

CAMPAIGNERS battling to save a children’s heart unit in Southampton from the axe have branded the closure consultation ‘flawed’ after it emerged travel times from the Isle of Wight had been miscalculated.

Helen Laverty with herdaughter, Nancy, two, who is due to have a heart operation in Southampton on Wednesday. Picture by Jennifer Burton.

A review of cardiac care services across the UK could result in Southampton General Hospital, rated the second best children’s heart unit in the country, having to shut its doors, forcing Island youngsters to travel to Bristol or London for treatment.
The review is being conducted by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, part of the NHS’s Safe and Sustainable review, which aims to cut the number of UK heart centres from 11 to six or seven. Southampton would only remain open under one of the four options.
However, it emerged this week Isle of Wight patients’ travel times to Bristol and London had been based on young patients being flown for their treatment to the mainland and not using the ferries.
A spokesman said: “This was an oversight on our part and new evidence has been submitted to the joint committee.”
Hundreds of people, including a group from the Isle of Wight, attended a mass rally in Southampton on Tuesday to protest against closure plans.
Campaigner Helen Laverty, 31, whose two-year-old daughter Nancy is due to undergo a heart operation at the unit on Wednesday told the County Press she would be forced to move to the mainland if closure plans were given the go ahead.
Helen, of The Diggings, St Helens, said: “It is not something I would want to do but the travelling times are not compatible with Nancy surviving an emergency.”
Meanwhile, Island MP Andrew Turner and health watchdog LINk have thrown their weight behind the campaign.
Mr Turner, who is to raise the issue with the Secretary of State, said: “Southampton children’s heart services are second only to Guy’s in London in terms of quality, so it is staggering that it is under threat.”

Reporter: davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk

SOURCE: http://www.iwcp.co.uk

Mum recounts tragedy of baby’s death

This story proves that Southampton General Hospital is considered when making referrals from other hospitals.

Don’t let young hearts die out. Help us keep the unit open as we are the next best hospital out of London.

Laura Wood with Stanley

Isle of Wight LINk Supports The Campaign To Save Southampton Children’s Heart Surgery Unit

Wednesday, 25th May, 2011 (12 hours ago) at 8:53 am (12 hours ago), Isle of Wight

This in from Isle of Wight LINk in response to the NHS Safe and Sustainable consultation document, of which one proposal is to close the children’s heart surgery unit at Southampton General Hospital. In their own words. Ed

In the opinion of the Isle of Wight LINk, the location of the Specialised Surgical Centres in all but Option B would have a serious detrimental impact on the care of children in need of cardiac treatment and of adults receiving care for congenital heart defects living on the Isle of Wight.

Supporting Option B
The Isle of Wight LINk strongly supports Option B and strongly opposes Options A, C and D. Option B is supported because it contains centres which:

• Score the highest for quality.
• Score the lowest for mortality rates.
• Currently carry out complex surgery.
• Are readily accessible from all parts of England and Wales.

The Isle of Wight LINk is concerned that Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust is only in one of the four options despite ranking the second highest for quality.

Travel times not considered
There is also concern that travel times to and from the Isle of Wight to Specialised Surgical Centres having not being taken in to consideration due to the Isle of Wight having been classed with Portsmouth because of its PO post code.

The financial cost of travel to Bristol or London in addition to the cost of crossing the Solent; which itself can cost £105 for a day return* is a factor which the IW LINk feels should be taken into account with regards to patients from the Isle of Wight.

Possible psychological distress
The IW LINk is also concerned about the possible psychological distress caused by the separation of children and their parents from family and other social support networks during prolonged hospital stays, where travel costs and distance prevent regular contact.

The IW LINk is aware that the team of expert clinicians at Southampton may not wish to relocate to other Specialised Surgical Centres, thus losing the skills and experience which have created Southampton’s record of high quality and low mortality rates.

Supporting London centres too
The IW LINk supports the proposal for two Specialist Surgical Centres in London; those of the Evelina Children’s Hospital and the Great Ormond Street hospital.

The LINk agrees with the five key principles which have driven the Safe and Sustainable Consultation Document, that:

The needs of the children should be paramount.

• The highest quality of NHS care should be provided.
• This same high quality should be available to all children.
• The care planned and provided should be personalised to each child.
• Cardiac treatment should be delivered as close to the child’s home as possible.

The IW LINk recognises the benefits of reducing the number of children’s cardiac units in England; including preventing infrequent practice and allowing 24/7 care within the Specialist Surgical centres.

However, the LINk is feels that by closing down the second best children’s cardiac unit in the country, children in need of cardiac treatment on the Isle of Wight will have to travel further to receive a possibly lower quality of care, together with the psychological and financial burdens this will put upon their family. This is why the IW LINk supports Option B.

Laura Spooner
Chair, Isle of Wight LINk

* (Price based on one adult and one infant travelling on a flexible short break ticket from East Cowes to Southampton on a Red Funnel vehicle ferry on a bank holiday. Information accessed from the Red Funnel website on 17th May)

Sourced from: http://ventnorblog.com/2011/05/25/isle-of-wight-link-supports-the-campaign-to-save-southampton-children%e2%80%99s-heart-surgery-unit/#ixzz1NOesVuLI
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The BIG one: Southampton Rally

Just a reminder that the rally at the Guildhall is tomorrow!

Location: Guildhall, Southampton

Time: Tuesday, 24 May 2011 16:00

This is a public rally for ANYONE wanting to come along and show their support for Ocean Ward. The media will be turning up at 5pm for filming and photos so let’s get as many people there as possible & show the government just how many people are behind the Children’s Cardiac Unit!

If you’re not from Southampton, why not make a day of it?! The Guildhall is just a short walk from Southampton Central train station and WestQuay shopping centre! This is one of the most important events of the consultation, so please make a special effort to come along and show your support!

Help Save Southampton’s Children’s Hearts!

Southampton Children’s Heart Unit: IW Children At Risk Due To Inaccurate Data

Helen Laverty is intimately involved in the campaign to save the Southampton Children’s Heart Surgery Unit. She believes that children on the Isle of Wight will be hugely disadvantaged if the unit closes. In her own words. Ed

The NHS Safe and Sustainable Review of Children’s Congenital Cardiac Services in the UK has resulted in a possible four options for the future, A, B, C and D.

All options will result in the closure of some units across the country with the ultimate aim being fewer more specialised units providing a safer and sustainable service.

Misleading data puts Isle of Wight children at risk
Whilst the review is welcomed and accepted as necessary, the fact that misleading and inaccurate data has been used to produce documentation and formulate the four options puts children on The Isle of Wight at risk. The gravity and urgency of this situation must not be ignored by Island residents.

All children on The Island with heart problems are referred to Southampton. The likely closure of the Southampton Unit will result in extreme hardship and almost certainly the avoidable deaths of both newborn and existing patients.

Children must have ‘excellent’ care
The NHS Safe and Sustainable website states “Safe, sustainable and world class. Not ordinary, OK or just good enough. Children and young people who need surgery must have excellent care.” as the primary aim of the review. The following facts make a mockery of the above statement;

• Isle of Wight data and statistics have been specifically excluded from consultation documentation, seemingly because we are separate from the mainland.
• Travelling and retrieval times of patients on the Isle of Wight have been excluded from the safe and sustainable review’s source information (produced by KPMG), which has resulted in Southampton being put forward in only 1 of 4 options for the future (option B).
• The review’s board OWN assessment ranks Southampton as the 2nd best of 11 such units, yet other units rated far lower down the scale appear to have been given an illogical preference and appear in all 4 options.
• It is clear that key personnel and decision makers are not communicating effectively within this process. Crucial information and inaccuracies which have come to light since the start of this process are being blindly ignored.
• According to the reviews own source information the Isle of Wight is a UK “hotspot” for Children’s Cardiac Referrals and Surgery making the closure of Southampton even more illogical.
• The cost and logistics of travel for Island residents to either London or Bristol (options A, C and D) will effectively result in parents and patients having to face some of the toughest of times without the vital support network of friends and family around them. Present arrangements make this difficult at the best of times, the loss of the Southampton Unit will make it impossible.

Personal experience of need for unit
As the parent of Nancy Laverty, age 2½ who was born at, and is under the ongoing care of, the excellent Southampton Unit, I demand and expect reconsideration and further fact finding be undertaken BEFORE the review board make ANY final decisions which may affect the quality of life for my child, other children and children yet to be born on The Isle of Wight.
Sourced from: http://ventnorblog.com/2011/05/20/southampton-childrens-heart-unit-iw-children-at-risk-due-to-inaccurate-data/#ixzz1NA1VSnb1
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Call to join rally!

NOW it’s your chance to make your voice heard!

An earlier demonstration to save the unit outside Southampton General.

Camapigners fighting to save children’s heart surgery in Southampton will stage a mass rally to confront visiting health bosses next week.

Hundreds are expected to pack Guildhall Square on May 24, between 4pm and 6pm to ensure that those who hold the fate of South-ampton’s threatened unit in their hands are in no doubt about how vital and valued it is.

Many supporters have been left angry that their views will not be heard after all 400 places for the two public meetings at the Guildhall were quickly snapped up.

Read about it here.

Attend the rally here via the Facebook Event’s page.

Twitition: Campaign against the closure of the Children’s Cardiac Unit at Southampton Hospital

Description

The children’s cadiac unit in Southampton is rated the second highest performing out of the UK’s 11 centres, yet it is currently under review for closure. Please sign up to this petition to keep the unit open and save children’s heart surgery in Southampton.

Click here and sign!

Help Save Southampton’s Children’s Hearts!

Campaign to Save Our Heart Unit

Campaign to save our heart unit

The children’s heart unit at Southampton General Hospital is currently threatened with closure. We can prevent this from happening by taking action now to show our support for this excellent quality service.

On Tuesday 24th May between 4pm and 6pm please join the public rally in Guildhall Square Southampton. Take a picnic and your children who can enjoy a teddy bear hospital and help form a heart-shaped symbol of support for the unit at around 5pm.

Please make sure you also fill in a questionnaire and support Southampton in Option B. The questionnaire is at www.ipsos-mori.com/safeandsustainable and some guidance notes are available on the parents campaign web site at www.saveourheartunit.org (Or under the ‘Have A Heart’ tab on the top of the page)

Southampton is independently rated as the second highest quality service in the country ahead of Great Ormond street, Alder Hey and Birmingham children’s hospitals.

Ali Ayres

Director of communications and public engagement

Southampton University Hospitals Trust

07789 868598

023 8079 6241

Keep up the good work!

Just a quick thank you to those who have supported the campaign so far! Please continue your support and continue to spread the campaign further!